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CDPXRIGHT DEPOSm 



By Florence Irwin 

The Fine Points of Auction Bridge 

The Development of Auction Bridge under 
the New Count 

Auction High- Lights with a Full Exposition 
of the Nullo Count 

NuUo Auction 

The Complete Auction Player 



The 

Complete Auction 
Player 



By 
Florence Irwin 



G. P. Putnam's Sons 

New York and London 

Zbc fcnickerbocder press 

1916 



.155 



Copyright, 19 i6 

BY 

FLORENCE IRWIN 



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Ube ftnfcfierbocf^er t>vcBS, 'nevo Ijjork 

OCI 25 \m 

©CI,A4453,;U 



PREFACE 

At last, the great game of Auction seems 
to have ** settled'' and the time for a Com- 
plete Auction handbook has come. After 
years of experiment, of insistence on personal 
opinions, and of consequent chaotic confusion, 
a standard game has been reached. 

With one regrettable exception the present 
laws are international. The American laws 
of 19 1 5, being modelled on the composite 
English laws of one year earlier, followed 
them in nearly every respect. The consensus 
of expert opinion is that the exception is a 
blot on the American laws. However, in the 
interest of a uniform national game, it has 
been accepted even by those who regret it. 

The Auction field is a large one. I have 
endeavoured, in this book, to teach as con- 
cisely as possible all the essentials of a high- 
grade game, as well as to prepare a path for 
the feet of beginners. 

F. I. 



m 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER PAGE 

I.— The Routine of the Game. i 

II.— The Bid . . . .26 

III.— The Raise .... 50 

\ IV.— The Over-Call ... 65 

V. — ^The Double and the Re- 
double .... 80 

VI. — Preemptive Bids . . 103 

VII. — Preemptive Raises . .121 

VIII. — Informatory Doubles . 125 

\IX. — The Shift .... 129 

X.— Team-Work . . .131 

XI. — Playing against the Bid . 144 

XII. — The Leads . . . .146 

XIII. — The Discard . . .151 

XIV. — The Echo; the Rule of 

Eleven; the Bath Coup . 155 



VI 



Contents 



\ CHAPTER 




PAGB 


^ XV.- 


-The Finesse 


i6o 


XVI.- 


-Unblocking 


167 


XVII.- 


-Some Suggestions 


173 


XVIIL- 


-Leading up to a Declared 






Stopper. A Mooted Point 


189 


XIX.- 


-Hints .... 


195 


XX.- 


-Don'ts .... 


201 


XXI.- 


-The Revoke 


203 


XXII.- 


-Penalties .... 


207 


XXIII.- 


-Exposed Cards . 


215 


XXIV.- 


-Twenty Test-Hands . 


220 


XXV.- 


-Three Partial-Hand Prob- 





LEMS AND THEIR SOLUTIONS 28I 



XXVI. 



-Duplicate Auction ; Compass 
Auction; Team Auction; 
Tournament Auction 



XXVII. — Progressive Auction . 

XXVIII. — Three-Handed Auction; 
"Miss" Auction; Two- 
Handed Auction 



296 
303 

305 



Contents vii 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XXIX. — On Rules . . . • 311 

XXX.— "Card-Sense" . . .315 

XXXI. — The Human Side of the 

Game . . . .319 

The Laws 329 

An Appendix ON NuLLOs . . . 359 



The 
Complete Auction Player 



CHAPTER I 
{Specially recommended to beginners) 

THE ROUTINE OF THE GAME 

Two packs of cards are necessary, though 
only one of them is used in each hand. 

The four players cut for partners. Those 
cutting the lowest two cards play together. 
Those cutting the highest two cards are 
partners against them. 

Ace is low in cutting, and the suit-values 
are reversed. In playing, spades are the 
highest suit; in cutting, they are the lowest. 
If two cards of the same denomination be 
cut, the spade would be the lowest, the heart 
next, the diamond next, and the club the 
highest. 

The partners who cut low have the choice 



2 Complete Auction Player 

of cards and seats. The lowest card cut 
marks the first dealer. 

Partners are always retained throughout 
a rubber. A rubber is two games won by the 
same partners. The games may be consecu- 
tive, or otherwise. 

In a sitting of more than one rubber there 
are three ways of determining subsequent 
partners. These are: 

isL Playing the same. 

2nd. Pivoting. 

3rd. Cutting in. 

''Playing the same'' is retaining the same 
partners throughout an entire sitting. 

''Pivoting'' is changing partners after 
every rubber and according to fixed routine. 
The player who sits on the left of the last 
dealer of the just-completed game, is the 
first dealer for the new game. That player 
sits still. The others change so that all four 
players are re-paired in regular order ; each 
player plays with each other player, and 
against each two other players, an equal 
number of times and in the same rotation. 
This form of pairing is in particular favour at 
card parties where prizes are given. 

''Cutting in" is repeating, after each 
rubber, the original process for pairing. 



XHe Rcutine of tKe Game 3 

Former partners may cut with, or against, 
each other. The deal may be lost, or retained, 
by that player who would be the next dealer 
in order. Choice of cards and seats is again 
given to the players cutting the low cards. 
This form of pairing is by far the ''sportiest. *' 

Every pack of cards, before being dealt, 
must be **made'' (i. e., shuffled) by the adver- 
sary on the left and cut by the adversary on 
the right. 

''Cut to the right, deal to the left.'' 

To *'dear' is to take the pack of cards and 
give them out, one at a time, beginning with 
the card on the top of the pack and the player 
on the dealer's left. The last card should 
come to the dealer and each player should 
have thirteen cards. Every player should 
assure himself that he has his proper number 
before the business of the hand begins. 

The cards should never be touched b any 
player other than the dealer, until the deal 
is completed. 

The dealer of a hand is not necessarily its 
player. 

The Deal 

The deal in Auction goes around the table 
regularly, but the play of the hand may be 



. '% 



4 Complete -AAidtion Player 

anywhere, i. e., the hand may be played by 
fthe dealer, his partner, or either of his 
adversaries; whoever makes the winning bid 
plays the hand. This sometimes makes con- 
fusion in the next deal; every one can re- 
p member who played the last hand, but not 
/ who dealt it. 

This trouble should be obviated by the 
position of the *' still'' pack (the pack of 
cards not in use). 

When the dealer is dealing, his partner 
should ''make'' the still pack and put it 
down at his own right hand. It would be 
bad form to reach across the adversary who is 
to deal next and place it at his right hand. 
So it is placed on the right hand of the maker, 
and when it becomes time for a new deal, 
the player who finds the still pack at his left 
hand is the new dealer. He should pick up 
the pack, pass it to the previous dealer — i. ^., 
the player on his right — to cut, and should 
then proceed to deal, while his partner 
*' makes" the other pack and lays it at his 
own right hand. 

The still pack should never be trifled with, 
never touched except for the business of the 
game. Strict attention to this detail will 
obviate all trouble as to the deal, and will do 



THe Ro\itine of tKe Game 5 



away with stupid questions, such as, ^' Whose 
deal is it?'' ''You dealt last, didn't you?'' 
and so forth. The game will progress smooth- 
ly, and one of the marks which distinguish 
good Auction from ''ragged" Auction will be 
obliterated. 

The Suit-Values and the Honotxrs 

The suits in Auction rank and count thus : 

Clubs 6 

Diamonds 7 ^ 

Hearts. 8 

Spades 9 

No-trumps 10 

In any declared trump (that is, anything 
other than no-trumps), the honours are the 
ace, the king, the queen, the jack, and the 
ten of that suit. Honours in suits other 
than the trump-suit, do not count. Honours 
in the trump-suit are scored as held, not as 
gathered. If certain honours are dealt you, 
they score for you, even though your ad- 
versary may gather them into his pile of 
tricks. 

^^ Simple honour s^^ are any three out of 
the five honours, — the larger half of five. 
They count just the same whether held all 



r 



Complete -Aviction Player 



in one hand, or divided between the hands 
of two partners. And their value is always 
twice the value of a trick. Simple honours 
in clubs would ' be worth twice six, — or 
twelve, — because clubs are worth six. a trick. 
Simple honours in hearts are worth sixteen. 
And so on. 

It is merely the balance of the honours 
that is valuable. The smaller portion counts ^ 
for nothing. If one pair of partners holds 
three honours, and the other pair holds two, 
only the first pair is entitled to an honour- 
score. 

Four honours divided between two part- 
ners count four times the value of a trick. 
Held all in one hand, they are just twice as 
valuable. Four honours in one hand are 
worth eight times the value of a trick. 

Five honours divided between two partners 
are worth five times the value of a trick. 
Five honours in one hand are twice as valuable, 
thus being worth ten times the value of a 
trick. 

Four honours in one hand with the fifth 
in partner's are worth nine times the value of 
a trick, — just halfway between eight and ten. 

In no-trumps, the honours are the aces. 
Three aces are worth thirty, whether held all in 



TKe Roxitine of tHe Game 7 

one hand or divided between partners. Four 
aces, divided, count forty. Four aces in one 
hand count a hundred. They are spoken 
of as *^ a hundred aces/' When the aces are 
evenly divided, they are called ''easy aces'* 
and do not count at all. Another way of 
describing easy aces is to say ''aces are off/' 

The Score 

The score, in Auction, is divided into 
^'points" and "penalties." There is a cross- 
line on most Auction score-pads, and the 
common way of designating the score is 
"below the line " and "above the line. " 

"Below the line" are placed all the points 
scored on the tricks taken by the person who 
is playing the hand. No one can score below 
the line except the person who is playing the 
hand and his partner (the dummy) ; and they^ 
only if they make all that they bid, or more. 
The partners who are playing against the 
make are known as "the adversaries" or 
the "opposition." They can score above the 
line only J if at all. 

The points below the line go towards 
making game, and two games make a rubber. 
Games are won below the line^ exclusively. 



8 Complete A.viction Player 

This makes it valuable to play the hand and 
to score below the line. Nevertheless, 
players must remember that it is often more 
expensive to play a hand than to yield it. 
You can win the first two games and lose 
money on them, at that; because your 
adversaries, though behind you in the score 
below the line, have piled up so much above 
the line as to exceed your winnings. The 
rubber is over when one side has won two 
games. But the real winners of the rubber 
are not necessarily the partners who win 
those two games. They are the partners 
whose total score is the higher when the rubber 
is over. By the laws of 191 5, it is specially 
provided that these partners shall be known 
as the winners of the rubber. 

The game is thirty or more trick points, 
below the line. 

When two games have been won, in ad- 
dition to the trick points a bonus of 250 
points is given, above the line, for the mere 
winning of the rubber. It is this bonus that 
makes the rubber valuable, and that gives 
all players the desire to play the hands and 
win the games. 

Above the line are kept the honour-score, 
the rubber-value, the record of all penalties^ 



THe Rouitine of tKe Game 9 

of all bonuses, and of all defeats. It is 
a huge field, and a singularly neglected 
one. 

The honour-score and the rubber-value have 
already been defined. 

Penalties are punishments meted to players 
for certain faults. They always take the 
form of a lump-sum added to the adverse 
score, above the line. Because of them, the 
entire above-the-line score has come to be 
known as the /^penalty-column." 

A bonus is a reward for a certain achieve- 
ment. It is always scored above the line, 
and can be gained only by the person who is 
playing the hand. 

Defeats are scored when the person playing 
the hand fails to keep his contract, or to make 
as many tricks as he has bid. They are 
always scored above the line, always by the 
adversaries, and always at fifty a trick re- 
gardless of suit. 

This explains the meaning of the saying, 
*' There is rank below the line, but not above 
it.'' When you play the hand, you play it 
at some chosen suit which is worth from six 
to ten a trick. When you defeat the hand, 
you score fifty a trick for every trick you 
steal from the contract, and regardless of suit. 



lo Complete A.\iction Player 

It is worth just as much to beat clubs as to 
beat no-trumps. 

Therefore do I say that the craze for play- 
ing the hand is too great, and the penalty- 
field is too neglected. By playing the best 
suit there is, you can make but ten a trick, 
and you have all the work and the worry. 
By defeating the hand, you make fifty a 
trick, regardless of suit, and the other man 
has all the work and the worry. 

Would you rather work like a slave for ten 
cents, or have some one make you a present of 
half-a-dollar ? 

Still, it must be remembered that rubbers 
can never be won by defeaters, — only by 
those who play the hand. But the rubber- 
value, enticing as it is, may be entirely dis- 
counted by adverse penalties. No one ever 
needs urging to remember the advantages of 
playing the hand. I have yet to see a person 
who didn't need urging to remember the 
advantages of defeating the hand. 

Scoring when Plajdng for Stakes 

When playing for stakes, a '*plus-and- 
minus'' score is kept. At the end of each 
rubber, the entire gross score is added for 
each pair of partners separately; all their 



THe Ro\itine of tHe Game ii 

points, honours, and penalties are added and 
to this score is affixed the rubber-value (for 
that pair that has won it). The dividing 
cross-line on the score-card no longer makes 
any difference. For each pair, the points 
''above the line'' and ''below'' it are all 
added together. 

The smaller of these totals is then deducted 
from the larger, and the difference is entered 
as "plus" for the winners and as "minus" 
for the losers. At the end, each individual 
player's plus-scores are added, as well as his 
minus-scores. The result will show how 
many points he has lost or won. 

Stakes vary according to the players. 
The smallest stake I have ever known was 
a tenth-of-a-cent a point. That, though 
small, is really a very common stake. It 
would be impossible to mark the other limit. 
An eighth, a quarter, a cent, two cents, five, 
ten, twenty-five, fifty, a dollar, and two 
dollars, are all well-known stakes. I have 
heard of twenty -five dollars a point, but have 
never seen it played. 

Scoring when Playing without Stakes 

When playing without stakes, an individual 
gross score is kept. There is no deducting, 



12 Complete -ALXiction Player 

and no minus-score. There are simply vari- 
ous plus-scores and the largest of these is 
the winning score. 

At parties where prizes are given there 
is sometimes a prize for every table. In such 
a case, the highest score at each table wins a 
prize. There may be higher scores in the 
room that do not take prizes, however. 

When there is not a prize for each table, 
the highest scores in the room win. There 
are as many winners as prizes. 

Also, at such parties, it is usual to set a 
''time-limit.'* All players stop playing at 
a certain time, even though a rubber, or a 
game, be not finished. Simply the hand in 
progress is completed, provided the actual 
play of it has begun. The gross score is then 
added for each side and an additional 125 is 
given to the winners of every completed 
game. 

The Book 

The first six tricks that the player takes 
do not score and do not count towards his 
bid. They simply form his ''book.** Over 
and above them, he must take at least as 
many tricks as he has bid, or else be defeated. 

If he takes more tricks than he bid, he can 



XHe Ro\jtine of tKe Game 13 

score all that he takes, even over his bid. 
If, for instance, he gets the bid at ''two, '' and 
takes four (his book and fotir more tricks, — 
ten tricks in all) , he scores all those four tricks. 
He makes 24, if he is playing clubs (four 
tricks at six each), 28 if the trump be dia- 
monds, 32 in hearts, 36 in spades, or 40 in 
no-trumps. 

If, on the other hand, he takes less than 
he bid, he may score nothing, — not even for 
those tricks that he takes. If he bids ''four" 
and takes two, he cannot score those two. 
He does not score at all, and his adversaries 
score 50 for each of the two tricks of his 
failure. 

If you under-bid your hand, you may score 
everything that you take in excess of your hid. 
If you over-bid your hand, you may not even 
score that which you take. The adversary scores j 
not you. 

It follows that it is the part of wisdom^ 
generally speaking, to get every contract as 
cheaply as possible. This is not a new idea; 
it is as useful in life at large as at the Auction- 
table. 

By the word ''Player,^' or ''Declarant,^' 
I shall henceforth designate that person who 
has secured the play of the hand. His 



14 Complete Axiction Player 

partner is always the ''Dummy.'' And the 
two persons who, in partnership, are playing 
against them, are the ''Adversaries,'" 

Now, as I have shown, the **book" for the 
declarant is always six tricks, and he is 
obliged to take, in addition, at least as many 
tricks as he has bid, or to be defeated. 

But the **book'' for the adversaries is not 
always six tricks. It is not always any set 
number of tricks. It varies. It is the 
number of tricks that the declarant can safely 
lose, — that is, that he can lose without defeat. 
It is all that he dares let them take. 

The book for the adversaries is always the 
difference between the bid and seven. Let 
the adversaries deduct the number of tricks 
bid, from seven. The remainder is the 
number of tricks in their book. Let them 
close their book when it is complete. If they 
gather any further trick or tricks, their value 
will be 50 apiece, and the declarant positively 
cannot score on that hand. He is defeated. 

The Double 

If either adversary thinks he can beat the 
declarant and can take more tricks than his 
book, he doubles. That means: *'Go on and 



XKe Routine of tKe Game 15 

play your hand at your own suit. I'll play 
against your bid and / bet I can beat it.'" 

Then, if the adversaries do defeat the bid, 
their tricks (over their book) are worth 100 
apiece instead of 50. 

But if they have miscalculated and if the 
declarant makes his bid, his tricks are 
doubled in value, each trick (over the book) 
being worth 12 apiece if clubs are trumps, 14 
if diamonds are trumps, 16 if hearts are 
trumps, 18 if spades are trumps, and 20 if 
the hand is played at no-trumps. In addition 
to this, a bonus of 50 above the line, is given 
the declarant for keeping his contract in spite 
of a double. And, again in addition, if he 
makes any tricks over his contract, each 
over-trick is worth twice its value below the 
line and an additional 50 above. 

It will easily be seen that loose doubling is 
the most expensive of pastimes. 

Remember, there is no bonus for keeping 
a contract unless there has been doubling. 
If you announce your ability to take '* three 
hearts," and every one thinks you probably 
can, there is no credit to you in taking them 
and taking more. But if the adversary 
thinks you cannot, and announces this by 
doubling, and if, on top of this, you prove 



i6 Complete Autction Player 

that you can, then you get your tricks at a 
doubled value (sixteen apiece), and you also 
get a *' bonus'' of fifty above the line as a 
reward for keeping your contract in spite of 
his double And if you make any tricks over 
your contract, each one is worth its doubled 
value below the line, and an extra fifty above. 

For instance, you bid ''three hearts''; you 
are doubled and yet succeed in taking five 
hearts {i. e., eleven tricks in all). They are 
worth 1 6 apiece below the line (80), you get a 
bonus of 50 above the line for the mere 
keeping of your contract in spite of a double, 
and you also get 50 above the line for each of 
the two tricks you took in excess of your 
contract, — making a total of 80 points below 
the line and 150 above, plus your honours. 

Doubling can take place between adver- 
saries only. No one may double his partner. 

Redoubling 

The first double is always made by the 
adversaries. Now the declarant (or dum- 
my, his partner) is at liberty to double that 
double, or to r^-double. 

Then, if the declarant makes his bid, his 
tricks are ^ovth four times their normal value, 



TKe Roxitine of tKe Game 17 

his bonus is raised to 100, and each trick over 
the bid is worth four times its normal value 
below the line and an extra 100 above the 
line. 

If, however, the declarant is defeated on 
his redouble, the adversaries score 200 for 
each trick that they steal from his contract. 

Doubling stops at redoubling — that is, 
each side is allowed one double and no more. 
And there can be no bonus when there has been 
no doubling. 

Honours are not affected by doubling. 

The principles of bidding will be described 
in a later chapter. They are too complex and 
important for a cursory mention. But the 
routine of bidding is here given. Let it be 
understood that when a player bids, he means 
that, with his partner's help, he hopes to be 
able to take as many tricks as he mentions, 
over and above the first six tricks that go 
to make his book. 

The Routine of the Bid 

Any player is privileged to bid or to pass. 

Three successive passes close the bidding, 
after each player has once had a chance to bid. 
On the first round, if the first three players 



1 8 Complete Auction Player 

pass, the fourth has still a first-round right 
to his bid. Should he pass, the bidding is 
closed, the hand abandoned, and there is a 
new deal by the next dealer. But with this 
sole exception of giving fourth hand his first- 
round chance, three successive passes close the 
bidding. Should the dealer bid and the three 
other players pass, the bid is closed. 

Doubling is not passing. A double re- 
opens the bidding as much as does a bid. 

The number of rounds of bidding is un- 
limited. Until three successive passes have 
been voiced, the bidding continues to go 
round. 

Any player may pass on the first round and 
enter the bidding on a later round. 

Any player may change the suit in which 
he is bidding, as often as he chooses, as long 
as the bidding is open. He may bid in a 
suit, drop it, hear it bid by the adversary, and 
finally return to it, if he so choose. To bid 
a suit is not necessarily to stick to it. To 
leave it is not necessarily permanent. 

To make a higher bid in a suit that one's 
partner has already named, is to raise the 
bid. 

To make a higher bid in a suit that one's 
adversary has already bid, is to out-bid him. 



TKe Roxitine of tHe Game 19 

Any player is privileged to bid the suit 
that has already been bid by his adversary. 

Between two partners, the hand is played 
by the one who first named the suit that 
stands as final. Between two adversaries, 
the hand is played by the one who last 
named the suit that stands as final. 

The only bidding stipulation is that each 
successive bid shall contain a higher number 
of tricks than the preceding bid; or that, 
containing the same number, its total shall 
exceed the previous bid. Thus ' ' two hearts *' 
(16) will beat '*two clubs'' (12), but will give 
place to *'two no-trumps'' (20).^ 

Any player who makes an *' insufficient" 
bid is bound to raise it to sufficiency, and 
in the suit named, provided the error be 
mentioned by either adversary before the 
insufficient bid is ''covered" by the next 
player's bid, double, or pass. For instance, 
a player says ''three spades." Another 
player unthinkingly "covers" with "three 
hearts," — which is not enough. He is 

^ In America alone does this bidding principle hold. 
In all other countries, the highest total takes precedence. 
'*Four no-trumps" (40) beats "five clubs" (30), as it 
should. What does 40 mean, if not that it is higher than 
30? 



20 Complete -A."uctioi:i Player 

bound (if detected in time) to say *'four 
hearts, " — he may not change the suit. More- 
over, if the following adversary passes, the 
partner of the faulty bidder is deprived of 
the privilege of bidding. But should the 
adversary do anything other than pass, the 
partner of the faulty bidder is no longer 
penalized. He is free to bid, double, or pass. 

The Declarant, the Leader, the Dmnmy 

When the bidding has been closed by three 
successive '* passes, *' the declarant {i, e, the 
Player of that hand) has been determined. 
He is that player who has made the highest bid, 
unless he has made it in a suit that was origi- 
nally named hy his partner. In that case, 
the highest bidder is merely the raiser, and 
the partner who first named the winning 
suit is the declarant. 

The partner of the declarant is always the 
dummy. 

The adversary on the left of the declar- 
ant is the leader. 

No one should tell, and no one should ask, 
''whose lead it is.'' If anyone at that table 
knows, everyone should know. All have 
had the same chance to know. Everyone 



XKe Rovitine of tHe Game 21 

should sit still till someone leads a card. 
If it is the proper leader, well and good. If 
it is not, the declarant is privileged to take 
a penalty from the adversaries for an im- 
proper lead. To rob him of this privilege, 
by asking or giving information, is to play 
a dishonest game. It is the commonest of all 
Auction errors; it is practically universal; 
but it is, nevertheless, an offence against 
the decency of the game. 

After the first lead is out, the partner of the 
declarant lays his hand on the board and 
becomes the dummy. Dummy should be a 
silent witness of the hand except for those 
privileges accorded him under Law 60 (see 
end of volume). 

The declarant plays his own hand and 
dummy's in conjunction and in proper turn. 
Whenever he wins a trick, he must lead from 
that hand in which the trick was won. 

Etiquette 

Certain faults are provided with penalties 
which enable the suffering adversary to ''get 
back at'' you. Other faults are merely for- 
bidden, but no penalties are laid on their 
committal. To fall into them, is to be guilty 
of an offence against etiquette. If you must 



22 Complete Axiction Player 

do your adversary a bad turn, do it in that 
direction that provides him with an offset. 

Every bid should be made distinctly. 
Anyone who fails to understand the bid may 
ask to have it repeated at the time, but never 
after it is once covered. And when the final 
bid is allowed to stand, and three players 
have passed in succession, no one may ask 
information as to any previous bid. The final 
bid, however, may be asked at any stage of 
the game. 

Every one should bid in as few words as 
possible. If he does not wish to bid he says, 
'^No," "Pass," or "By." And remember 
that every bid must be made audibly. Some 
players have a habit of striking the table 
with their fingers to show that they pass. 
This is contrary to rule, and gives too much 
chance for a system of rap-signalling. 

Before passing to the discussion of the 
principles, rules, and laws of the game, I 
will append a short glossary of terms which 
must make sense to the reader who wishes to 
understand my pages. 

GLOSSARY 

Adversaries: the partners who play against 
the make. 



THe Roxitine of tKe Game 23 

Blind lead: the original lead, before dummy 
goes down. 

Call-off: to bid against one's partner, in 
another suit, when the intervening adversary 
has passed. 

Carry: to pay a player's losses, or pocket his 
winnings. 

Chicane: not holding a single trump amongst 
your thirteen cards. This is no longer worth 
anything; formerly there was a score allowed 
for it. 

Command: to hold the highest unplayed card 
of a suit. 

Cross-ruff: to trump one suit in one hand and 
another in the other. 

Declarant: the person who plays the hand. 

Dummy: the partner of the declarant. 

False-card: to play a purposely misleading 
card. Only the declarant can afford to do this, 
for he, alone, has no partner to deceive. 

Finesse: to take a chance on a lower card 
winning the suit when you also hold the 
higher one. 

Force: to make a person bid, or play, higher. 
To push him up. 

Fourchette: a combination formed by holding 
the card next higher, and that next lower, than 
the one held by your right-hand adversary. To 
hold a fourchette over him, is to have his card 
between the two prongs of your fork. 



24 Complete A."uction Player 

Game-all: each side having won a game. 

Game-in: one side having won a game. 

Game-in-the-hand: to make 30 or more trick- 
points on one hand, from a clean score. 

Gather: to take in the tricks. This is usually 
done by that adversary whose partner's card 
has won the first trick. The declarant gathers 
his own tricks; dummy should never touch 
them. 

Go game: to win the game. 

Guarded suit: a suit that holds a stopper (see 
Stopper). 

Long trumps: the trumps that remain in any 
one hand after all the other hands are exhausted. 

Major-suits: hearts, spades, and no-trumps. 

Master-card: the highest unplayed card of a 
suit. 

Minor-suits: diamonds and clubs. 

''Over'' and ''under'': If you sit on a player's 
left, you play after him and are *'over" him. 
It is a desirable position. If you sit on his right, 
you play before him and are ''under'' him. 

Over-call: a call-off. 

Player: when spelled with a capital, this means 
the declarant. 

Preemptive hid: an unnecessarily high bid. 
These used to be called ''shut-out bids" until 
I coined the term "preemptive" which is now 
used exclusively and universally. 

Revoke: to refuse to follow suit when holding 



TKe Rovitine of tKe Game 25 

a card of the suit led. I beg my readers never 
to use the slang term of ''renig. '' It is hideous. 

Ruff: to trump in. 

Side-suit: any suit other than trumps. 

Slam: to take all, or all but one, of the tricks 
is to make a slam. The former is called a 
grand slam, and is worth 100 above the line. 
The latter is called a small slam, and is worth 
50. 

Still pack: the pack of cards not in use; the 
one that is to be used for the next hand. 

Stopper: a vSure trick in a suit. An ace is 
always a stopper. A king, to be a stopper, needs 
at least one small card to ''guard'* it (that is, 
to fall on the ace and make the king high) ; 
a queen needs two; a jack three; and so on. 

Tenace: the best and third-best of a suit form 
a major tenace. The second-best and fourth- 
best form a minor tenace. 

' ' Through ' ' and ''up to'' : A trick goes 
''through" the players who play second and 
third to it, and "up to" that player who plays 
last on it. 

Yarhorough: a hand that does not hold an ace 
nor a face-card. Contrary to prevalent super- 
stition, there is no compensation for the holding 
of such a hand. 



CHAPTER II 



THE BID 



It is necessary to make a sharp distinction 
between first-round bids and later-round bids. 
Also between suit-bids and no-trump bids. 
Suit-bids must always be standard ; no-trump 
bids may be the biggest gamble imaginable. 

When you first pick up your hand, look for 
the highest suit there is, — that is, a no-trump. 
If you find you have the material for it, bid 
it. Look no further. ^ 

If your hand says *'no*' to no-trumps, look 
next for spades. If you have a spade-bid, 
make it. 

Failing that, look next for hearts, and so 
on down the line. Use the process of elimina- 
tion in your hid. Always make the best bid 
that your hand warrants. If it says *'no'' 
to all tests, pass. 

' I will explain later those cases where a spade-bid, or 
a heart-bid, should be given the preference over a no- 
trump bid. 

26 



The Bid 27 

Although the no-trump bid is the first to 
seek, I am going to leave its discussion to the 
last, and teach you first about suit-bids. 
All suit-bids are governed by the sam.e rules ; 
therefore, in learning one, you learn all four. 

First-round Suit-bids. 

The primary object of the first round of bid- 
ding is to combine the hands of partners. It is 
informatory, purely and simply. 

It may often happen that, though a player 
holds a perfectly good suit and bids it, he 
will later choose to abandon it in favor of his 
partner's suit, or both partners may abandon 
their original suits in favor of a no-trumper. 

The lower the number of tricks in the bid, 
the easier will be the process of switching 
suits. Therefore : 

No matter how strong, nor how weak, the 
material for the bid may be, I distinctly dis- 
approve of an opening bid that is higher than 
one. 

When you make your initial bid, you are 

like a blindfolded man groping in the dark 

to meet a friendly, or a warning, touch. You 

must not overreach yourself, nor hurry, nor 

■ swagger. You must step carefully. After 



28 Complete Auction Player 

your partner's guiding touch has met yours, 
after you have heard informatory voices 
from the adversaries, the bandage is whisked 
from your eyes, and you are no longer bHnd. 
You can run, jump, leap, rush, as much and 
as far as wisdom permits. But your first 
steps should be careful ones! 

In spite of the obvious good sense of this 
reasoning, there are many players who open 
with bids of more than one, — sometimes to 
show one thing, sometimes another. Their 
methods will all be fully explained in the 
chapter on ** Preemptive Bids.'' When you 
play with such players, you must know what 
to do; you may even choose to join their 
ranks. But in the meantime let me assure 
you that I consider it a very poor method, 
both in theory and practice. And let us 
continue this chapter with the understanding 
that no player will open with more than a 
one-bid. 

Now, although first-round bids are in- 
formatory, they must always be playable. 
You must be willing to be left with any bid 
you make, and must be able to play it if left 
with it. Every hid must be a make. 

Some players still wTongfully adhere to the 
old-fashioned methods of bidding simply to 



THe Bid 29 

show high cards, even if they have nothing 
else in the suit. This is distinctly wrong in 
latter-day Auction. To-day, in order to bid 
a suit, you must have, not only one of the 
highest two cards in that suit, but you must 
have enough other cards in the suit to form a 
support, — preferably five or more, in all. 

Roughly speaking, a first-round suit-bid 
demands 

1st, Ace or king at the top. 

2nd, Five or more cards in the suit. 

3rd. A quick outside trick in the hand. 

Let us consider these three requisites 
separately, and mention their exceptions, — if 
there be any. 

1st. Ace or king at the top. 

This is an almost inviolable law. When 
you make a first-round suit-bid, you tell your 
partner positively that you hold the ace or 
king of that suit. He will believe you, and 
will reckon his hand accordingly. See that 
you do not lie to him. 

Queen-bids on the first-round are always 
illegitimate and are never possible except in 
about one case in ten thousand. The begin- 
ner must let them alone entirely. When he is 
an expert, he will want to let them alone 
except in that tremendously exceptional case 



30 Complete Auction Player 

already mentioned, which he alone, of all 
players, will be able to recognize. 

Jack-bids on the first-round do not exist, nor 
do bids on any card lower than a jack. No 
matter how long your suit, it must be de- 
ferred to a later round than the first, if there 
be nothing higher than a jack to head it. 

2nd. Five or more cards in the suit. 

There are no three-card bids. 

There are no good Jour-card bids, except in 
a major-suit with all four of the cards hon- 
ours. Even then, the fact that there may 
be nine trumps against you makes your bid 
a dangerous one. A two-bid on a four-card 
suit is almost prohibited. 

Five trumps are about the smallest possible 
allowance. And with but five, two at least 
must be honours. The general rule is that a 
suit must total seven points at least, counting 
two for each honour and one for each plain 
card. Five cards with two honours would 
total seven ; so would six cards with one hon- 
our. Everything over the seven points is an 
added advantage. 

It is obvious that a seven-card suit that did 
not hold a single honour would count seven 
points. It, however, is barred by the first 
rule, which demands ace or king at the top. 



TKe Bid 31 

Also, a four-card suit that held three hon- 
ours would total seven. And many players 
will bid such a suit. The best players, how- 
ever, rather dread a four-card trump suit. 
Experience has taught them its pitfalls. 
They bid four-card suits only when they are 
hearts or spades and when all four cards are 
honours. And even then, the bidding is 
perverted by the 64, or ']2, honours, and is not 
good in itself. Were honours counted out, 
there would be no four-card bids. 

However, if a four-card suit is ever to he bid^ 
it must be on the first round. Strength is the 
prime requisite of a first-round bid; length, of 
a later-round bid. 

jrd. A quick outside trick in the hand. 

This means the ace or the guarded king of 
some suit other than trumps. A ''quick'' 
trick must be the first round or the second. 
The third round of a side-suit is too uncertain 
in declared trumps. One of the adversaries 
may ruff it, or it may never materialize. 

A sound first-round bid should protect two 
suits, trumps and one other. This rule is 
inviolable in a five-trump hand. Its ne- 
glect is the sign of a poor or inexperienced 
player. 

The ''outside'' trick should be an ace 



32 Complete Aviction Player 

(which is sure) , or a well-guarded king (which 
is not entirely sure). Queens don't count. 

The most conservative players urge that 
your outside trick must be an ace or a king- 
queen. King-queen, being a sequence-stop- 
per, is as safe as the ace. While I am 
conservative, I do not demand this outside 
combination. It is safe, and I love to hold 
it, but too many perfectly sound makes are 
sacrificed in waiting for it. 

Failing an ace, or a king-queen, these 
same ultra-conservatives demand two guarded 
side-kings. Then even if one loses, the 
chances are that both will not. Again I 
voice approval of the safeness, but dissent 
from the necessity. Again I say too many 
good makes will be lost. Guarded trumps 
and two other guarded suits would make 
three guarded suits. Three guarded suits are 
the requisite for a no-trumper; two, for a 
suit-bid. 

Nevertheless, an outside trick is almost as 
valuable as a trump-suit. It is almost as 
necessary for your partner to know that you 
hold it. With but five trumps, you must hold 
an outside trick. 

With six trumps, many players waver 
and will bid without an outside trick — even 



TKe Bid 33 

many first-grade players. But I still want 
my outside trick. 

With seven trumps, I think most players 
will bid, even without an outside trick. And 
with eight trumps, only the ultra-conserva- 
tives will hesitate. They say that, even with 
eight trumps and the ace-king-queen at the 
top, they will not bid on the first round 
without an outside trick; and that if there is 
never a second round, they will not mind 
losing the hand. I think they are wrong, and 
there is no possible doubt that the consensus 
of expert opinion is against them. Such a 
hand would be this : 

^ AKQ98643 
4l 10 4 

Oj 

4^ 72 

The player who would not bid that hand on 
the first round would certainly be the excep- 
tion — even among experts. Of course, any 
beginner would bid it without a second 
thought. But even that fact does not mark 
it as necessarily wrong. 

These points, then, cover the requisites 
for a sound first-round suit-bid. Ace or king 
at the top, preferably five or more cards in 



34 Complete -A.\iction Player 

suit (though there are such things as four- 
card bids), and a sure outside trick in the 
hand. This last requisite may possibly be 
waived in the case of seven or eight trumps 
with good, high, touching honours. But 
that is a discussed point and differently 
regarded by various authorities. 

Later-round Suit-bids 

Suit-bids on all rounds save the first, require 
length pre-eminently. They may be headed 
by lower cards than the king. Or they may 
be made on long trumps alone, with no out- 
side tricks. Partners will make due allow- 
ance for second-round bids and will not 
credit them with the strength and reliability 
of first-round bids. Second-round bids are 
long and weak. 

First-round No-trumpers, 

The first, and only, requisite to an opening 
no-trumper is that three-suits shall be stopped. 
Granting that, it may be bid on as much, or 
as little, else as the player desires. Only the 
degree of skill possessed by a player can 
determine the lightness of his no-trump bids. 



The Bid 35 

If a no-trump is bid after an adverse suit- 
bid {i, e. a suit-bid by either adversary), there 
is another requisite : it positively must possess 
a stopper in that adverse suit. You cannot 
bid no-trumps unless you stop the adversary's 
suit. This is the one rule that cannot be 
broken. 

But an opening no-trumper can have no 
concern with this rule, and has therefore but 
one bar to its existence, — the lack of three 
suits stopped. You positively must not bid 
no-trump with two unguarded suits. 

The opening no-trumper may be very light. 
It is allowable, but not advisable, to bid 
equally light no-trumpers in second, third, or 
fourth hand. Only, however, in the opening 
hand are they desirable. 

Speaking generally, ''one no-trump" is the 
most valuable opening declaration. There 
are many reasons for this. First, it gives 
your partner four chances to help you, in- 
stead of only one. Again, it is the only suit 
in which it is possible to go game with only 
three-odd tricks. Then, there will often be, 
on the same deal, two hands either of which 
could bid ''one no-trump,'' but neither of 
which could bid "two no-trumps.'' // you 
get it first, it stands to reason that the other man 



36 Complete Aviction Player 

can't. Again, a declaration of ''one no- 
trump'' will force your adversary to a two- 
bid, and will sometimes prevent his naming 
his suit to his partner. This will shut out 
information between your adversaries and 
will often hamper them seriously. 

A split-hand is always a no-trumper. By 
a ''split '' hand I mean one where the strength 
is evenly divided and the suits lie in groups 
of three or four. 

Hands holding singletons are dangerous 
no-trumpers. In declared trumps, you can 
ruff short suits. In no-trumps, there is no 
ruffing. Even if your singleton be an ace, it 
is more valuable in declared trumps than in 
no-trumps. In declared trumps, you will 
lose no round of the suit. You will take the 
first round, and ruff all subsequent rounds. 
But in no-trumps, as far as your own hand 
can show, you will lose every round save one. 

I should never dream of bidding no-trump 
on a hand with a blank suit. The adversaries 
may hold thirteen cards of one suit against 
you! 

"Length is strength,'' in no-trumps. A 
long suit and side reentry is an ideal no- 
trumper. In fact, this type and the "split- 
hand" type are the only two types of 



THe Bid 37 

no-trumper that there are. The former is 
played by estabHshing the long suit and then 
proceeding to slide down it; the latter, by 
skimming off the high cards in the various 
suits and taking tricks with them. This is 
the most primitive type of no-trumper and 
takes no skill whatever to play. The other 
type requires more skill; but not all the skill 
in the world will save it if it goes wrong. 

Although aces are the most desirable things 
in no-trumps, it is possible to bid no-trump 
without an ace — almost an unheard-of thing 
in the old days ! Singletons and missing suits 
are much greater deterrents than a lack of 
aces ! Even a singleton in the suit which your 
partner has announced, is very bad. Suppose 
his suit doesn't clear in one round, and he has 
no side reentry, — then where are you? His 
hand is absolutely useless to you. If you 
don't need his hand, and simply want to 
know that that particular suit is not estab- 
lished against you, then your singleton need 
not worry you. But if you need his suit in 
order to make your bid, don't think that your 
one lead will necessarily be enough to clear it. 

Singletons weaken a no-trump hand, but 
do not prevent a no-trump bid. If you wait 
for everything, you will rarely get a no- 



38 Complete A\Jction Player 

trumper. If you hold a singleton in a suit, 
that suit probably will be bid against your 
no-trumper. If it is, you can drop your bid; 
if it is not, it is safe to assume that your 
partner holds at least a stopper. 

A ** standard'' no-trumper, and one that 
can never be criticised is this: 

1st. Three stopped suits (obligatory). 

2nd, Average strength. And *' average'' 
strength means this (or its equivalent) : 

One ace, one king, one queen, one jack, one 
ten, one nine, and so on down the line. Two 
kings and two queens could be considered the 
equivalent of one ace, one king, and one 
queen ; the four cards without an ace, and the 
three cards with an ace, make approximately 
the same strength. 

When it comes to hands that are under the 
standard, it is impossible, as I said before, to 
give any hard-and-fast law as to how light 
the bid may be. It all depends on the skill 
of the player. No-trump is the one suit 
in which you can take a long chance, — pro- 
vided always that three of the four suits are 
guarded. An ace in one suit, a protected king 
in another, and a protected queen in a third, 
will always elicit a no-trump bid from me — 
particularly if there be a jack or ten thrown 



TKe Bid 39 

in somewhere. Two guarded kings and two 
guarded queens, scattered through three 
different suits, is another no-trump com- 
bination. 

There are no obligatory bids. There seems 
to be a prevalent supersitition in some 
quarters that three aces *'call for a no- 
trumper. '' This is not true. No one need 
bid no-trumps unless he wants to. An empty 
hand that holds nothing but three aces is 
a possible no-trumper, and a good player 
usually so bids it. But it is a very difficult 
hand to play, and no one need bid it unless 
he chooses. 

Don't get the no-trump fever. It is a mark 
of the beginner to disregard every suit save 
no-trumps. 

No-trump bids on later rounds follow 
exactly the same rules as first-round no- 
trumpers. There are no distinctive rules for 
them, as there are for suit-bids. 

A dealer may, and should, bid a very light 
no-trumper. He does it to force others and 
his chances of being left with it are very small. 

Any player, after the dealer, is equally 
privileged to bid light no-trumpers; but it is 
not advisable. The circumstances are differ- 
ent. Second-, third-, and fourth-hand no- 



40 Complete A\iction Player 

trumpers should be bid only on standard 
hands that have a fair chance of scoring game. 

Second-hand, with a poor (though possible) 
no-trumper, would be wise to pass if the 
dealer has already passed. Because, second- 
hand may get a better hand on the next deal 
if this one is abandoned. And after two 
passes, it is well on its way to abandonment. 

The same is true of third-hand, and no one 
but an idiot would bid a poor no-trumper as 
fourth-hand. His is the privilege of definitely 
closing an undesirable hand. By a weak bid 
he may give his adversaries another chance, 
and they may make an otherwise impossible 
second-round bid that will eventually win. 

While there is a certain fascination about 
a no-trump hand, I think it is usually con- 
ceded to be the easiest hand to play. And 
certainly it is the hardest hand to save when 
things go wrong. Give me a suit-bid, if I 
am to play a shaky hand. 

One of the greatest of French poets was 
asked if it were not very difficult to write a 
poem, and he replied : ' ' Difficult ? Not in the 
least! It is either easy or impossible!'* 

I think I never heard a better epigram, 
and it comes into my mind whenever I watch, 
or play, a no-trump hand. A no-trump is 



The Bid 41 

always ''easy or impossible," and there is 
nothing quite so sad in life as a no-trump 
hand gone wrong. 

The Relation between the Score and the 
Bid 

The state of the score should always be a 
factor in the choice of the suit that is bid. 

On a clean score, it is always preferable to 
play a major-suit, as it looks more like game- 
in-the-hand. 

Game-in-the-hand should be the goal of every 
player. Partial games are too uncertain 
and may be stolen from under your nose. 
You may climb by painful steps to 28 and 
then see your adversaries gain game with one 
strong rush. 

Nevertheless, if game-in-the-hand is im- 
possible, I should always prefer a partial 
game to nothing at all. I should rather go 
game in two hands than to abandon both those 
hands because neither one would score game 
alone. 

This being so, I voice an emphatic dissent 
to those writers who insist that it is the sign 
of a weak game to hear clubs or diamonds 
bid on a clean score. 



42 Complete A.\Jction Player 

In the first place, to bid clubs or diamonds 
is not necessarily to play them. It may be 
to help your partner to a no-trumper. Sup- 
pose he holds this hand: 

^ AKQ 
4k 763 
10 9 8 
4 AK43 

There is a hand without a possible bid in 
it, albeit with five sure 'tricks for no-trumps. 
Yet it is not a no-trumper, because it holds 
two unguarded suits. It is equally impossible 
as any suit -bid. 

But vsuppose you open with *'a club*' or 
**a diamond''! Instantly your partner's 
no-trumper is established. He sees you with 
one suit and an outside trick. You must 
have either a club-suit with the ace or king 
of diamonds, or a diamond suit with the ace 
or king of clubs, because he has both the 
other aces and kings. As soon as he hears 
your weak-suit bid, his no-trumper is a stone- 
wall against anyone. 

Again, even if you are left with a club or a 
diamond, you might go game on it. Five- 
odd is not an impossibility. Even slams are 
frequently made. 



THe Bid 43 

And lastly, suppose you are left with the 
lowest suit C*a club") and make the least 
possible on it — six. That six will enable you 
to go game on three-odd hearts or spades 
where formerly it needed four, or on four-odd 
diamonds or clubs instead of five. 

Still, don't play diamonds or clubs on a 
clean score any oftener than you need. 
Bid them but don't play them, by choice. 
Don't let your partner play them; take his 
information to change his minor-suit to a 
major-suit if possible. And as adversary, 
don't mind letting your enemy play a minor- 
suit on a clean score. Don't strain any 
muscles or make any weak bids to take it 
away from him. He may go game, but the 
chances are long, against it. 

Play major-suits on a clean score whenever 
you can. But when it is a choice between a 
good minor-suit or nothing, take the former. 

With something on the score, the case is 
different. When the score stands at eigh- 
teen, for instance, the suits lose all rank. It 
takes two of anything, to put you game. 
Clubs are as good as no-trumps. 

And always, and at any score, choose a good 
heart or a good spade in preference to a no- 
trumper, unless you hold a hundred aces. 



44 Complete A\iction Player 

This is absolutely demanded now in the best 
Auction though it is hard to grasp by old- 
fashioned no-trump devotees. But it is 
positively required of the up-to-date player. 
And it is the sole exception to using the pro- 
cess of elimination in your choice of bid. 

Even when holding those wonderful things, 
a hundred aces, there are hands on which it 
is wisdom to disregard them and to bid ''a 
spade" or ''a heart" in preference. Here 
is such a hand : 

4» A74 

A2 

4b AKQ10 753 

That is a much better spade-hand than 
no-trumper. The short-suits and the single- 
ton make the no-trumper dangerous, and the 
72 spade-honours stand up very well against 
the voluntarily abandoned hundred aces. 

Bids from the Various Players. 

The Dealer should make any good bid that 
he holds. The higher the better. He 
should not shirk responsibilities. 

If the dealer passes, second-hand should 



The Bid 45 

never make a weak bid. If the dealer bids, 
second-hand should make any possible legiti- 
mate bid, in order to prevent the dealer from 
getting a one-bid contract. He should not, 
however, make poor bids for the mere pur- 
pose of forcing. 

These same principles apply to third-hand 
in all those cases where the dealer has passed 
and second-hand has bid. When the dealer 
has bid and second-hand has passed, third- 
hand should pass, unless he himself holds a 
better bid than his partner, — one which will 
go game in fewer tricks or which holds ex- 
ceedingly high honours. With such holdings 
he should bid against his partner. This he 
should also do when he can give no possible 
help to his partner but holds a perfectly good 
suit of his own, albeit a lower one than that 
which his partner holds. Such bids are 
called ''warning'' bids, or ''backward" 
bids. No sane player would voluntarily 
go backwards unless with a specific object. 
In Auction it is always a danger signal. 
Don't feel called upon to "show" a lower suit 
than your partner's; "show" it only as a 
danger signal. 

If the dealer's bid does not suit third-hand 
and he has no bid of his own, he can do noth- 



46 Complete Axiction Player 

ing but pass, — whether second-hand has bid 
or not. When second-hand has bid, a third- 
hand pass is sufficient warning to the dealer 
that his partner cannot help him. When 
second-hand has passed, third-hand (with 
no help and no suit of his own) can do 
nothing but pass. His pass does not neces- 
sarily mean concurrence in the dealer's 
suit. It may mean either that, or no help 
and no means of warning. In the latter 
case, it is better to play the dealer's good 
suit, even without help, than to play third- 
hand's poor suit, — possibly equally without 
help. 

And finally, when the dealer has bid, and 
his bid suits third-hand, third-hand should 
raise his partner's bid in the event of second- 
hand bidding. When second-hand passes, 
third-hand may either also pass (from 
pleasure) , or give an unnecessary raise. Such 
a raise is called a ''preemptive raise" and 
will be described in a later chapter. It is 
made in the hope of silencing fourth-hand, 
or of forcing him. 

And last of all we come to fourth-hand. 
He should combine his hand with second- 
hand's, exactly as third-hand combines his 
with the dealer's. With this sole exception: 



THe Bid 47 

when all three of the other players have passed, 
fourth-hand should never make a weak bid. He 
should never bid except with a more than fair 
chance of going game, or of scoring high hon- 
ours. Why, otherwise, should he give his 
adversaries the chance of a second-round bid 
which may be just what they are longing for? 
No partial game is worth it ! 

When there are Several Rounds of Bidding. 

In order to determine how high to bid your 
suit (whether it be trumps or no-trumps), 
count your losers, not your takers. In Auc- 
tion, as in life at large, it is the things that 
are against you with which you should con- 
cern yourself. Take, for example, the big 
heart-hand which I gave a short time back: 

^ AKQ98643 
4ii 10 4 

OJ 

When you want to determine its value, 
don't put your finger on those hearts and 
say: ''I have this — and this — and this,*' 
etc. Look at your losers and look at them 
hard! Even allowing every trump in the 



48 Complete Axiction Player 

hand to be a taker (with eight in your hand, 
it is improbable that the jack is guarded 
against you), even allowing that, you hold 
five sure losers. Don't say: **But the jack 
of diamonds is a singleton. '' What if he is? 
He has to lose, doesn't he? Do you expect 
to take a trick with a singleton jack? 

You hold five losers. That is a two-bid, 
no more. If your partner has help for you, 
he will raise you (I will treat of the raise in 
the next chapter) . But that is his business, 
not yours. Weak players always say: ''but 
I must expect something from my partner, 
mustn't I?" 

Expect nothing from him except one possible 
trick, unless he tells you definitely that he has 
more. Your partner has a tongue and the 
power to use it. You don't have to handle 
his hand on supposition and faith. 

If he does nothing but pass, credit him with 
one lone trick, no more. Deduct that from 
your five losers and it leaves four. In spite 
of your eight hearts, if you bid your hand 
higher than three you bid to a loss. 

And in any hand where you lack the ace, 
king, or queen of your suit, count one of your 
trumps as losers. All trumps are not neces- 
sarily takers. 



TKe Bid 49 

The principles laid down in this chapter 
cover the entire ground of the bid for each 
individual player. In the next two chapters 
on The Raise, and The Call-off, I will show 
you how to combine your hand with your 
partner's to the best end. 



CHAPTER III 

{Specially recommended to all player s^ even 
excellent ones,) 

THE RAISE 

When your partner bids in a suit that fits 
your hand, when you have help for him, and 
when you hold no better game-going bid your- 
self, you raise your partner's bid if it becomes 
necessary, — and sometimes even if it doesn't. 
This unnecessary (or ''preemptive'') raise 
will be described in a later chapter. In this, 
we will confine ourselves to the standard raise. 

To raise your partner's bid in any de- 
clared trump, you must hold two things : 

I St. A* 'trick." 

2nd. A ''raiser." 

"Tricks" consist of three things, and 
"raisers" of five, — those same three and two 
additional ones. In other words, there are 
three sorts of "tricks" and five sorts of 
"raisers." 

Tricks are : 

50 



TKe Raise 51 

1st. Guarded trump-honours. Or, 

2nd. Side-aces. Or, 

3rd. Side-kings, guarded. 

One of these three things must be found in 
your hand and deducted from it before you 
look for your raiser. 

And raisers are : 

1st. Guarded trump-honours. Or, 

2nd. Side-aces. Or, 

2rd. Side-kings, guarded. Or, 

4th. Side-singletons. Or, 

5th. Blank suits. 

A plain singleton is one raiser. A singleton 
ace is two raisers, because you will lose no 
round of that suit. You will take the first 
round with your ace, and will ruff every sub- 
sequent round. A blank suit is also two 
raisers. It is, of course, necessary in both 
these cases that you have some trumps with 
which to take ruffs; otherwise, your single- 
ton, or your blank suit will be valueless. 

And, in addition, your trick and your first 
raiser must lie in different suits. In other 
words, you never may raise on one suit alone; 
not even if it be trumps. 

Nothing lower than a side-king ever counts, 
either as a trick or a raiser. Queens don't 
count, no matter how well-guarded they may 



52 Complete -AL-uction Player 

be. Guarded trump-honours, side-aces, and 
guarded side-kings count equally as tricks or 
raisers. Two such holdings, lying in differ- 
ent suits, may be reckoned as a trick and a 
raiser. But singletons and blank suits are 
raisers only — never tricks. They are power- 
less until you have first deducted your trick 
from your hand. Holding two of them (and 
no other asset), you cannot raise; because, 
though you have two ''raisers,'' you have 
no ''trick, '' and that is the first requisite. 

Thus it will be seen that to say, ''you must 
have a trick and a raiser in order to raise,'' 
is not the same as to say, ' ' you must have two 
sure tricks in order to raise. " No one could 
call a singleton deuce in a side-suit "a sure 
trick," and yet it is a "raiser" — provided 
always that you first have your "trick." 

If your singleton or your blank suit should 
be trumps, it is obvious that it would be 
rendered valueless. 

Let us take a few concrete examples : 

Your partner bids "a heart"; second-hand 
says "a spade"; and you hold this: 

9 J754 

4I1 10 9 3 

O A J 10 

4 10 6 2 



TKe Raise 53 

Your hand is worth one raise. You have 
a trick and a raiser. The guarded jack of 
hearts is either a trick or a raiser, and the 
side-ace of diamonds is equally a trick or a 
raiser. You can say *'two hearts'' (you 
must say it), but you can never say more. 

Again, and under the same circumstances, 
you hold this : 

^754 

4t A J 10 7 6 

KQ43 

You have a trick (ace of clubs), and two 
raisers (king of diamonds and singleton 
spade). You can raise hearts to ''three," 
even without another word from your 
partner. 

Another example, under the same circum- 
stances : 

9 AJ9874 
♦ QJ 
Q32 

In spite of your six trumps, ace-high, you 
cannot raise once. You may never raise on 
any one suit. You may never raise on trumps 
alone. And side-queens are not raisers. 



54 Complete -AL\iction Player 

Neither are short-suits if they hold more than 
one card. 

Let me show you why side-queens are not 
raisers. 

The object of the declarant is to get in, 
as soon as possible, and to '*boss'' the hand. 
The other side, not his side, will lead. The 
adversaries will lead and they won't lead trumps. 
In the hand just given, supposing a heart- 
raise to have been made and the hand to be 
exposed as dummy, the adversaries might 
make six tricks before the declarant ever 
saw light. They might take the ace and king 
of spades, the ace and king of diamonds, and 
the ace and king of clubs, before they ever 
stopped. The bid would be defeated before 
the declarant ever got a chance, because, 
though holding numbers of trumps, he had not 
a quick side-trick in either hand. He could 
not command either the first or second round of 
any side-suit, because he held no side-aces nor 
kings. And his queens did him no good, 
because their turn came too late. 

Side-queens don't count because the third 
round of a suit generally comes too late to 
save a hand. Also, because a third-round is 
frequently ruffed by one or the other of the 
adversaries. 



TKe Raise 55 

In every hand there are thirteen rounds. 
And in every hand there are eight aces and 
kings. That means that, in the normal hand, 
eight out of every thirteen rounds are captured 
by aces and kings. That leaves five rounds 
only, to be scrambled for by all the queens 
and jacks and low trumps in the pack. 
The chances of a side-queen aren't strong 
enough. If she makes, well and good; but 
she is not sure enough to be counted upon. 
It is only rarely that a side-ace or king gets 
ruffed by the adversary. 

Another example : 

Your partner bids a ''heart''; second-hand 
says ''a spade, "and you hold this: 

^9 763 

4I1 QJ76532 

In spite of your two singletons you cannot 
raise. You have two raisers, but no trick. 

Here is a hand, on the contrary, on which 
you could raise your partner's hearts many 
times: 

<0 J975 
4l AK54 
KQ43 

♦ a 



56 Complete Eviction Player 

Your guarded trump-honour is a trick; 
your ace of clubs one raiser; your king of 
clubs another (two raisers) ; your king of dia- 
monds another (three raisers); and your 
singleton ace of spades two more (five 
raisers). You can, and should raise your 
partner's ''one heart'' to ''six hearts," if 
necessary, even without another word from him. 

For look ! Your partner has bid on good 
hearts and one outside trick (ace or king). 
His outside trick must be the ace of diamonds 
because you have the ace and king of clubs, 
the king of diamonds, and the ace of spades. 
The adversaries must have the king of spades, 
to be bidding the suit. 

Put good hearts and the ace of diamonds 
in your partner's hand, and see how safe he 
would be with your hand and his. No mat- 
ter what is led, he comes in immediately ; he 
commands, he exhausts the adversary, he 
''bosses'* the hand at every turn. 

Even if he has bid without the outside trick 
he cannot lose much with such an assisting 
hand as yours. 

Now, it will be perfectly apparent that a 
bad bid will kill a perfectly good raise. If 
your partner bids on a jack-suit, and you raise 
him on two side-aces, there will be trouble. 



TKe Raise 57 

The ace, king, and queen of trumps will all 
be against you. Your raise is all right, but 
his bid isn't. 

This shows the necessity for a standard hid. 
When you trifle with the rules for the hid, you 
kill the rules for the raise. A bad hid is like 
a house with a shaky foundation; it may stand 
as long as it is hut one story high, hut you can't 
huild on it. 

The man who bids ''one'' on a long jack- 
suit, may be perfectly able to pull off his 
odd, or more. But his partner can have no 
idea whether or not to raise him, and can put no 
reliance in him. Since permanent good team- 
work is infinitely more profitable than an 
occasional stray trick or two, it follows that 
jack-bids are barred. 

Even with several perfectly sound tricks 
and raisers in your hand, / would not have you 
raise with a singleton trump, unless it were the 
ace, the king, or the queen. Any one of those 
top three cards will either take a trick or clear 
your partner's suit. But a small trump 
singleton is valueless either in taking or in 
clearing. And the balance of the trumps may 
easily be with the adversaries. If your part- 
ner has bid on five trumps (as he has a perfect 
right to do), and if you raise him on one (even 



58 Complete Aviction Player 

with good side assistance), seven trumps out 
of thirteen will lie against you. 

You don't need many trumps to raise, you 
don't need real trump-help. Side-help is even 
more valuable. But you must have at least two 
trumps in your hand to raise, no matter how 
small those trumps are. This is in order to 
give you the balance of the trumps. The only 
cases when you may raise with a singleton trumps 
are those cases when your singleton is the ace, 
the king, or the queen. 

Don't raise your partner's hearts on this 
hand, — even though it holds a trick and a 
raiser: 

9 9 

4^ A8652 
O AQ43 
4^ 10 9 4 

But change that nine of hearts to the queen 
and you may raise. 

No one but an idiot would raise a suit-bid, 
being chicane. There could, of course, hap- 
pen a hand on which it could be done cor- 
rectly; but such cases would be so rare as to 
make unusual exceptions. They would be 
so striking as to be recognized at a glance, 
should they occur. Such a hand would be 
this: 



TKe Raise 59 

^ — 
4^ AKQ8 

AK93 

4 A7432 

You would be allowed to raise hearts (even 
being chicane), on that hand with five sure 
tricks in it. But you wouldn't have to ; nobody- 
would be bidding against you and your part- 
ner except in about one case in a thousand. 

If your partner passes on the first round 
and bids on the second, you need an extra trick 
to raise him. You need a trick and two 
raisers, because you are raising a weak bid 
instead of a strong one. Your partner lacks 
either the top two cards of his suit, or he lacks 
the requisite outside trick. For that reason 
he has not bid on the first round. If you 
hold his ace or king, you may raise him with 
one trick and one raiser; otherwise, you need 
one trick and two raisers to raise a second- 
round bid. 

To raise your partner once, you must hold 
one trick and one * 'raiser.*' To raise him 
twice, you must hold one trick and two 
*' raisers'' ; to raise him three times, you must 
hold one trick and three '* raisers, " — and so 
on. And it is your absolute duty to announce 
every ''raiser'' you hold! 



6o Complete -A-uction Player 

It is the same thing whether you raise your 
partner from one to two, or from two to 
three. Suppose the dealer is your adversary 
and opens with '*a spade.'' Your partner 
sits next and bids *'two hearts.'' Your 
hand holds a trick and two raisers for hearts. 
The second adversary says "two spades." 
You say *' three hearts" (thus announcing 
one of your raisers) . The dealer says * * three 
spades." Your partner, himself , says ''four 
hearts." The next adversary says ''four 
spades." You must announce your second 
raiser by bidding "five hearts." To jail 
to do so, would be to shirk responsibility. 

A legitimate raise must never be deferred. 
It must be made the moment it is needed. 
To pass it would be to deny it, and to deceive 
your partner. He could not reckon his hand. 

The sole excuse for failing to give a correct 
raise, is the expectation of defeating the 
adverse bid. "Playing against the bid" 
will be described in a later chapter, and de- 
feating the adversary is always an e: cuse 
for forfeiting either the bid or the raise. 
But no one should harbour many hopes of 
defeating one-bids, or two-bids. 

On the contrary, no illegitimate raise should 
ever be given, — not even to the score, not even 



XKe Raise 6i 

to save game or rubber. Let the bidder be 
the one to do the plunging to the score. He 
sees the bidding hand ; he knows how much to 
risk; he can do what bluffing is to be done, 
because his hand will never be exposed and 
he alone can judge how far to push it. But 
he must be able to depend on every raise he 
gets, as absolutely reliable. 

Some players excuse a bad raise, by saying, 
*'I didn't make that till the second round.'* 
That is reasoning for a bid, not for a raise. 
Weak bids are deferred till the second round, 
weak raises are not. // possible at all, they 
must be made at once. If not possible, they 
must never be made. 

Let me emphasize by a few more examples 
before leaving this subject : 

If your partner bids ''a diamond*' and the 
next hand says ''a heart," you can not 
say *'two diamonds" on this hand: 

* Q84 

O A 10 7 5 3 2 

4^ 10 5 

The only tricks you have are trumps, and 
''you must not raise on trumps alone. " The 
adversaries will be leading and they will not 



62 Complete Auction Player 

lead trumps. You may lose six, or even 
seven, tricks before you ever get in. Don't 
you know that old cry of *'I can't get in!" 
Of course you can't get in with three suits 
against you and only one with you. 

On this hand, on the contrary, you can 
easily say **two diamonds." 

d|k Q 10 9 7 
8542 
4^ A763 

You hold a singleton and can ruff the adver- 
sary's suit on the second round; you have 
several little trumps, for ruffing; and you can 
stop spades as soon as they are led; you can 
''get in, " and run the hand to suit yourself. 

On this hand you can say ''two diamonds, " 
and later, ''three diamonds," and "four dia- 
monds": 

^ A432 

ik A 

9643 

4^ K985 

Your ace of hearts is "a trick, " your king 
of spades is one "raiser, " and your singleton 
ace of clubs is "two raisers. " You will never 
lose a round of clubs. 



TKe Raise 63 

Raisers in No-Trumps 

In no-trumps, any guarded honour is a 
trick, and any other guarded honour is a 
raiser. Queens and jacks, if guarded, count 
both as tricks and raisers; because, in no- 
trumps, the third and fourth round of a suit 
cannot be ruffed. Singletons and blank suits, 
on the other hand, are valueless in no-trumps 
and are never raisers. *' Length is strength 
in no-trump.'' 

The first person to bid no-trump against 
an adversary's suit-bid must, of course, 
hold a stopper in that suit. Granting this, 
any guarded honour is a trick and any other 
guarded honour is a raiser. The no-trump 
raising rules are much more primitive than 
those for declared trumps, — just as no-trump 
itself is more primitive than a declared trump. 
In the infancy of cards, undoubtedly every 
hand was played on no-trump principles. 
No ace could be taken with a lower card. 
Nothing but an ace could beat a king; and 
so on. As players grew more sophisticated, 
trumps were invented, one suit was given 
an advantage over all others; the deuce of 
that suit would beat the ace of any other 
suit; the game became more complicated, 



64 Complete -A.\Jction Player 

more subtle, and more fascinating, in con- 
sequence. But throughout Auction you will 
find a primitiveness and childishness about 
no-trumps that is lacking in the suits. In 
the lead, the raise, the method of play, the 
no-trump suit is startlingly simple and bald. 

Granting that you have now mastered the 
principles of the bid and the raise, you will 
have no difficulty in combining your hand 
with your partner's and in knowing how high 
to go, whether as bidder or raiser. 

Let the bidder bid legitimately and then 
count his losers — not his takers. The assist- 
ing hand need not trouble to count losing 
cards ; he must simply announce all his legiti- 
mate ''raisers." 

Let the making-hand count all losing cards; 
let the assisting-hand announce all ''raisers''; 
then let the making-hand deduct his partner's 
announced takers from his own losers, and he 
will know how high to bid. 

Don't you see what sense it makes ? Don't 
you understand that the original bidder kills 
all chances of thus combining the two hands, 
if he insists on unwarranted makes, or on 
opening-bids of more than one? 

I have never seen heavy penalties lost under 
this system of combined effort! 



CHAPTER IV 

THE OVER-CALL 

(Also known as the ''call-off'' or ''take-out,'") 

To bid against your partner, when no one 
else has bid, is to use the over-call. If the 
intervening adversary has bid, there is no 
question of an over-call. You can bid against 
the adversary, you can raise your partner, 
or you can pass. But to ''over-call" is to 
take the bid away from your partner. You 
cannot take it away from him unless he has it. 

When the over-call is made in a better suit 
than the original bid {i. e., one that can go 
game in fewer tricks), it does not necessarily 
mean no help for the first suit ; it simply means 
a correct desire to use the most valuable suit 
in the combined hands for the trump and 
the less valuable suit as a side-suit. This is 
such obvious common-sense as to need no 
comment. 

When the over-call is made in a poorer suit 
5 65 



66 Complete A.\jiction Player 



than the original bid, it is always a warning of 
danger, and of lack of help. No sane player 
would walk backwards, except with a reason. 

This warning of danger is much more neces- 
sary in nO'trump than in declared trumps. 

In declared trumps, it is made only when 
there is absolutely no help for the origmal 
suit, and when there is also a perfectly good 
suit with which to over-call. Never make a 
weak over-call to your partner's suit-bid. 
He has a good suit, or he wouldn't have bid 
it. It is better to play his good suit, even 
without help, than your poor suit, — possibly 
equally without help. 

I will give you an example of a poor over- 
call in declared trumps; 

4I» KJ4 

K985 43 

4b J9 



^ 


975 




Y 




^ 


432 


4» 



107 5 2 

2 


A 




B 





Q86 
AQ 


♦ 


Q8743 




Z 




4 


A K 10 6 5 



9^ A K Q 8 6 

4ll A 93 

J 10 7 6 

♦ 2 



The Over-Call 67 

It was a clean score (love-all), and Z 
dealt. He bid ''one heart'' on excellent 
material. A passed, of course, and Y over- 
called incorrectly with ''two diamonds. " 

This said to Z that his partner had abso- 
lutely no help for him. Hearts are a good suit 
to play on a clean score, — a major-suit. It 
takes but four-odd for game-in-the-hand. 
In diamonds — a minor-suit, — it takes five- 
odd. Therefore Y must have had some good 
reason for walking backward. He must be 
sounding a danger signal. 

Z was right so to reason. But the informa- 
tion given by Y was entirely incorrect. He 
had help for hearts, — he could even have 
raised them once. Two well-guarded side- 
kings and two trump-honours make no 
despicable help. Z-Y would have had 40 
heart-honours. 

B bid "two spades. '* Z, feeling himself de- 
barred from hearts, switched to his partner's 
suit and raised the diamonds (he had a trick 
and four raisers). A raised spades once, and 
Y eventually played "four diamonds." He 
made them, but just missed game, — losing 
a spade-round and two diamond-rounds. 
In hearts, Z would have made game, with 40 
honours to boot. 



68 Complete Axiction Player 

When asked why he bid as he did, Y 
made this classic remark (so familiar as to de- 
serve a high rank in the list of ''bromides'') : 
*'Why, I thought I must show my diamonds 
once. Then if my partner wanted to go back 
to hearts, he could, and I could help him in 
it." 

A row of exclamation points would be the 
only possible com^ment on such sheer idiocy. 
Y had walked backwards, had over-called a 
desirable thing with an undesirable thing, 
had warned, had denied assistance, and then 
had expected his partner to understand this : 
''It is all right if you want to play your 
hearts. I can help you. '' 

Does that make sense? It doesn't to me! 

Don't go backward in declared trumps unless 
you have absolutely no help to offer , and hold 
a good bid, to boot. 

The Over-Call from No-Tnimps 

It is in no-trumps that the over-call is 
particularly necessary. If a no-trump hand 
goes wrong, nothing can save it. It is safer 
to take it back to suit. It is so much safer 
that it is done even on a very poor suit. 

If your partner bids "a no-trump," the 



THe Over-Call 69 

next hand passes, and you have an absolutely 
blank hand, should you, or should you not, 
change your partner's no-trump to two in a 
suit ? In other words, should you warn him 
of your inability to help in no-trump? 

IVIost decidedly you should warn him if you 
are able. But to do so on insufficient material 
would be to increase your danger instead of to 
lessen it. 

When your partner bids no-trump, his suit 
is aces and kings. If you have no aces and 
kings, you are blank in his suit. How shall 
you tell him so ? 

Tell him so by bidding two on any six-card 
suit, or any five-card suit that runs to a ten 
spot (or any card higher than a ten spot) ; but 
on no four-card suit, and on no five-card suit 
that is headed by a card that is lower than a 
ten. 

To change a no-trump to two in any suit 
(with no bid from the intervening adversary), 
is a distinct backward bid ; a backward bid is 
always a signal of weakness. Therefore, if 
your partner says ''a no-trump,'' the next 
hand passes, and you say ''two clubs," you are 
not telling your partner that you hold won- 
derful clubs; you are telling him that your 
hand is a wretched one, that it is void of aces 



70 Complete -ALiaction Player 

and kings, but that you have six httle clubs, 
or five little clubs headed by the ten spot or 
higher, or, possibly, a good suit of chibs, but 
nothing else. 

After this warning bid, if he chooses to go 
back to his no-trumps, knowing that he must 
take care of them alone, and that there is 
probably not a single taking card in your 
hand, then let him alone. You have warned 
him once and you have done your duty; there 
is no necessity for any further responsibility 
on your part. 

To a novice, it would seem absurd to bid 
two clubs on six little clubs to a seven-spot — • 
especially when the bid was not a forced one. 
But a shaky hand is always safer as a de- 
clared trump than as a no-trump. Nothing 
is so hopeless as a no-trump that goes wrong ; 
there is no possible way to save it, no way to 

get m. 

In a trump make, you can ruff suits — get a 
cross-ruff — use little trumps separately in the 
two hands; if your partner has a no-trump 
hand and you have half of the clubs in the 
pack (six or seven) you are fairly safe to make 
two-odd in clubs ; even with all five honours 
against you, even with five clubs to an honour 
(and your partner's no-trump hand), your 



TKe Over-Call 71 

bid is not a preposterous one. But when you 
hold but four trumps, you are too short to 
do any ruffing; and as your object in changing 
the bid was simply that you might be able to 
do some ruffing with your weak hand, it 
follows that you must not change it on any 
four-card suit. 

It is because of these excellent rules that 
we are enabled to bid the light no-trumpers 
that we bid to-day. You cannot bid a no- 
trump on nothing, of course. You must have 
three suits stopped, at least. But you can bid 
it on next to nothing, — and on hands that 
used to be considered helping hands only. 
The adversaries will probably take you out 
of your no-trumper; if they don't, it is almost 
a safe gamble that your partner has help for 
you; and if he has no help, he may at least 
hold material enough for a warning bid. 

It is never necessary to warn twice. *'A 
word to the wise is sufficient. '' If you warn 
your partner away from his suit and he 
returns to it, let him alone. 

Here is the most striking example of the 
wisdom of these rules that I have seen re- 
cently : 



72 Complete A\iction Player 



^ QJ9862 


Y 


(^7 10 743 


*io 

643 


A B 


A AQJ 

KQIO 


4 763 


Z 


4 KJ5 




^ AK5 






4b K98 






<> AJ92 






4 AQ4 





Z bid ''a no-trump," A went by, and Y 
made the warning over-call of ''two clubs," 
on ''any six-card suit." Every one passed, 
and Y made four-odd against extremely clever 
defence; against ordinary defence he would 
have made game without any trouble. 

Z could not have made even his book at 
no-trump. He was clever enough not to go 
back to his suit after Y's warning-bid, for he 
realized that both his diamonds and spades 
must positively be led up to — and that his 
side hand would be a wonderful help in clubs. 
In spite of the fact that four of the club hon- 
ours lay against them, Y's great length in 
clubs precluded the probability of any other 



TKe Over-Call 73 

player holding very many of that suit. It 
was a wonderfully correct bid. 

But you can see, can you not, how aghast 
the ordinary player would be to hear *'a 
two-club" bid on Y's hand? "^Two clubs' 
on that hand! And you call yourself a con- 
servative player!" You know the line of 
arguments such a bid would elicit. Then, 
convinced of having discovered something 
brilliant and desirous of impressing less well- 
informed acquaintances, he would proceed 
to over-call ''no-trumps" on hands like this: 

^ 985 
1^8 7 

There is no six-card suit in that hand; 
there is no ''five-card suit that runs to a ten 
or higher"; there is no short suit nor missing 
suit ; and there is no sense in the bid. 

These over-calls in suits, and against a 
partner's no-trumper, are familiarly spoken 
of as "the no-trump take-outs." In the 
minor suits (clubs and diamonds), they are 
made from weakness only. In the major suits 
(spades and hearts), they are made both from 
weakness and from strength. 



74 Complete Aiaction Player 

In other words, all good players prefer to 
play no-trumps to a minor suit. But they 
prefer a heart-hand, or a spade-hand, to a 
no-trumper unless the no-trumper holds a 
hundred aces. 

Even with a perfectly good no-trump 
assist, change your partner's no-trumper to 
spades or hearts. If he goes back to his 
no-trumper, let him alone. Never play 
no-trumps when you could play hearts or 
spades! 

But the no-trump bidder should not return 
to his no-trumper, after a call-of in hearts or 
spades unless he holds a hundred aces. Let 
him rather offer his no-trump hand as an 
assist for his partner's hearts or spades. 

Here is a hand on which a partner's no- 
trumper should be over-called with '*two 
spades, " — from strength: 

9 K 10 4 

O K3 

4 A K 10 7 5 

There is help for a no-trumper in every 
suit, yet a two-spade over-call is the proper 
bid. Change those spades to clubs, and the 
hand should never be used for an over-call. 



TKe Over-Call 75 

It should make a no-trump assist, and a no- 
trump raise, if necessary. 

Here is another example of a two-spade 
over-call; the first was from strength, this 
from weakness : 

9 A 

4il 984 

10 2 

4^ J 10 85432 

To sum up the no-trump ''take-outs": 

Take-outs in the minor-suits are made from 
weakness only. They may be made on an 
excellent diamond-suit or club-suit, and noth- 
ing else ; or they may be made on a long weak 
club- or diamond-suit : five cards to an honour, 
or six to anything. 

In the major suits, the take-outs are made 
from either weakness or strength. They may 
mean a perfectly good suit of hearts or spades 
and nothing else; or five spades (or hearts) 
to an honour, or six to anything, and nothing 
else; or five or six spades (or hearts), and a 
strong side-hand; or an entirely good generel 
hand with a good suit of spades (or hearts) 

There is a certain school of players who will 
not use the minor-suit take-outs at all. This 



76 Complete Aiiction Player 

is wrong. All take-outs are danger warnings. 
Danger warnings prevent disasters in Auction 
as well as in life at large, where they are as 
necessary when carried to us by the humblest 
black man that walks the earth, as by a 
prince or a millionaire. 

I am as fond of playing major-suits as any- 
one. But I contend that the craze is carried 
too far, and the game rendered entirely un- 
sound, when the attempt is made to bar 
the minor-suit take-outs. And what is the 
sense in making such a distinction between 
major- and minor-suits, when the suits are 
but a point apart ? 

No-trumpers would be no longer safe with 
the minor-suit take-outs deleted. And why 
be so horribly afraid of clubs and diamonds ? 
They often spell game, with a no-trump hand 
as an assist. 

But the point is, that no-trumpers would 
receive a deadly blow by dropping half the 
take-outs. Let me repeat the hand given 
a few pages back: 



THe Over-Call 



77 



^ — 

4^ 7 6 5 4 3 2 
875 
^ 109 8 2 



^ QJ9862 




Y 




9 10 743 


4^ 10 


A 




B 


Jh AQJ 


643 








KQIO 


4 763 




Z 




4^ KJ5 



^ A_K5 

AJ92 
4 AQ4 

Z has a perfectly sound no-trumper: every 
suit well-guarded; three aces; two kings; a 
queen; a jack, — really a beautiful hand! 
Yet he cannot possibly make the book in no- 
trumps. 

His hand needs to be led to. Playing no- 
trumps, he can never get into dummy to 
lead. He has to lead from his own hand 
straight up to B. He loses every club he 
holds. His major ten-ace in spades goes 
right up to B*s minor ten-ace. He cannot 
ruff. He is hampered at every turn. He is 
lost. 

Let Y play the hand at clubs and he has 
what is commonly known as a cinch. 

Wasn't that over-call as necessary in a minor- 



78 Complete A-uction Player 

suit as it could possibly have been in a major- 
suitl Why be defeated in no-trumps rather 
than score handsomely in clubs? 

That is idiocy ! 

I once bid '*a no-trump'' on this hand, 
which is certainly a no-trumper, or nothing : 

9kJ9 
♦ A Q 10 4 

Oaq 

4^ A732 

Every one went by, and no power on earth 
could have made the hand go. My partner 
held this: 

^ 76 

dii 953 

J 10 97652 

She was an excellent player but she did not 
make a ''two-diamond'' over-call, because a 
recent teacher had told her not to use the 
minor take-outs. 

In no-trumps there was not a trick in her 
hand; the diamonds blocked between us, 
and her seven good diamonds had to be 
wasted. 

In diamonds, she had many tricks. We 



The Over-Call 79 

would never have lost a spade-round; never 
a diamond-round, — because the king of dia- 
monds was on my right and only once- 
guarded. The king of clubs was also on that 
side; leading through him (an easy task in 
diamonds), he would never have made. 

We asked the logic that permitted take- 
outs in major-suits but not in minor. 

Well, *'It was playing two on a weak hand 
instead of one on a strong one. '' 

*'If your diamonds had been spades,'* 
we said, *' wouldn't you have over-called?" 

''Oh yes, of course. " 

''Wouldn't that have been equally two 
on the weak hand instead of one on the 
strong?" 

You see there was absolutely no logic in 
it. And facts talk. That hand means an 
easy game in diamonds. In no-trumps, it 
means a heavy defeat. 

Don't listen to false prophets. Learn your 
take-outs in both major- and minor-suits, and 
use them in both I 



CHAPTER V 

THE DOUBLE, AND THE REDOUBLE 

Doubles may be briefly divided into two 
classes : 

I. Business doubles. 
II. Informatory doubles. 

To my mind, the first class alone is worthy 
of existence and of consideration, and it is 
of it that this chapter will treat. I use no 
informatory doubles and I advise none. 
But as there are certain players who do use 
them, it will be necessary for my readers to 
understand them. I will discuss them in a 
later chapter. 

You will remember that I told you to 
count your losers when you wanted to make a 
high bid. I now tell you to count your takers 
when you want to double a high bid. By 
"takers,'' I mean, of course, winning cards. 
If you have one taker in excess of your book, 
you can count on defeating the bid, — but 
you do not necessarily double it. 

80 



TKe Do-uble, and tKe Redoxible 8l 

Count your takers to bid, and your losers to 
double! 

You double an adversary when you expect 
to defeat him and want your consequent 
score to be multiphed by two. 

You do not double him, even if you can 
defeat him, if there is any other suit to which 
he can easily shift and which you cannot 
defeat in its turn. To do so would be foolish. 
Why let your adversary out from the only 
suit you can defeat? Why warn him of his 
danger and invite him to move on to safety? 
Better to play against the suit you want 
and to take fifty a trick by defeating it, than 
to shoo your quarry into a haven where you 
cannot touch him and thus to lose every- 
thing. ''A trick in the hand is worth two in 
the bush.'' 

When, however, you get the adversary to 
a point where you could defeat any bid to 
which he might jump, you have a safe double. 

It follows, therefore, that: 

You must never double the only suit you can 
defeat. 

You must never double on one suit alone. 

You must never double on trumps alone. 

You must never double any low bid (it is 
too easy to change) . 



82 Complete A.\action Player 

You double on a general hand. And : 

You must never double when to do so would 
be to allow your quarry to escape. In other 
words : 

Never double anything unless you can double 
everything. 

The good sense of this last rule is so 
apparent that I can never see the necessity 
for explaining it further. Yet experience has 
taught me that its first appearance is always 
hailed with a gasp of dismay. Hundreds of 
letters have I received asking if it were really 
possible that I ever said such a thing. Of 
course I did. How could anyone ever say 
anything else? 

Amateurs never like this rule. They 
think it curtails their chances of doubling. 
And so it does ; it cuts out all poor doubles and 
leaves the good ones. Rather good pruning! 

Dont double unless you are prepared to 
double again, no matter where the adversary 
shifts. Let him play the one suit you can 
defeat; don't warn your enemy of the pit 
yawning in front of him. Let him play his 
bid. Take your fifty a trick by defeating 
him. Fifty a trick is not despicable. Five- 
odd tricks in no-trumps are worth but fifty. 
Five fifties will equalize the rubber. 



TKe Do\ible, and tKe Re<lo\ible 83 

While few things are as profitable as a good 
double, a bad double is the worst thing there is. 
It is far worse than a bad bid. No matter 
how poor your bid is, the adversaries cannot 
go game or rubber on it, for they can score 
above the line only; but if you make a bad 
double, you will often put them game or 
rubber. 

Be very wary of doubling any bid which 
would not give your adversary a game, un- 
doubled, but which would give him a game, if 
doubled, *' Three hearts'' or ''three spades'' 
on a clean score, is not a bid to be lightly 
doubled. Twenty-four is not game. Neither 
is twenty-seven. But forty-eight and fifty- 
four are game. And it sometimes happens 
that your adversary pulls off his bid, even when 
you feel sure of defeating him. If he has ten 
on the score, think a long while before you 
double his ''three clubs." 

It takes a stronger hand to double when 
sitting on the bidder's right than when sitting 
on his left. In the former position, he plays 
after you. In the latter position, you play after 
him. The difference is immense. It would be a 
very exceptio7ial hand {played against a very 
high bid) on which I should advise a double on 
the bidder's right. 



84 Complete -A."uction Player 

It is better to he too conservative about your 
double than not conservative enough. I should 
rather lose three chances on possible doubles 
that might win, than make one poor double and 
lose it. 

It has been said that if you never lose a 
double it shows that you don't double often 
enough. I say, as well to contend that if a 
man never falls down on a ballroom floor 
it is a sign that he doesn't dance often enough. 
It isn't. It is a sign that he dances too well 
not too seldom. And so with doubling! 

Again, it is urged that if you are known as a 
quick doubler, your reputation will keep your 
adversaries from making risky bids. Ex- 
actly! And why should you want to keep 
them from making risky bids? Such bids 
are your great chance of profits. It is not 
for you to protect your adversary. 

On the other hand, I do not want to steer 
you away entirely from doubles. Nothing is 
better than a good double; nothing is so 
profitable as heavily defeating the adversary. 
And you must remember that when you 
double a man you merely undertake to keep 
him from making what he has bid; you do not 
contract to take that many tricks yourself. 

The higher the adverse bid, the lower your 



THe Dovible, and tHe Redoxible 85 

book against it. If you double a four-bid, 
your book is three. And you have but to take 
one trick in excess of your book in order to make 
your double good. It follows, therefore, that 
the higher the adverse bid, the safer the 
double. 

Also, it is hard for the adversaries to get 
out of a high bid. Under a system where the 
suit values are but a point apart, nearly any 
low bid can be changed, either by the bidder 
or by his partner. But with a high bid, this 
is not true. 

Suppose your adversary bids ''two hearts" 
on this hand: 

9 K J 10 7 4 

KQ42 
4^ A73 

And suppose you sit over him {L e.^ on his 
left) with these cards : 

^ AQ9832 

*QJ 

ASS 

4^ 86 

You can certainly beat his hearts, if you let 
him play them. His partner sits next with 
these cards: 



86 Complete Axiction Player 

4^ A K 10 8 
4 Q J 10 9 5 4 

If you pass, that partner will also pass. 
He knows of no danger, and he thinks he 
helps hearts. He has two little trumps, a 
side singleton, and a side ace-king. He would 
not care to bid his queen-suit of spades unless 
he knew his partner was in danger. But the 
moment you told him that (by doubhng), 
he would go to spades and go game in the hand. 
You couldn't do a thing. By your foolish 
double you would throw away all your own 
profits and would give the adversaries a nice 
score. It would be the old stor}^ of the dog, 
the bone, and the shadow. In reaching for 
more, you would lose everything. 

Here is an excellent double: the adversary 
on your right has gone to ^'two spades, '' on 
this hand: 

4iA6 

<>K10 4 

4 AQ 10 7654 

You are bidding no-trumps on this : 



XHe Do\jble, and tKe Redoxible 87 

9akq 

<>AQ6 
4kE:J98 

If he goes to 'Hhree spades" you can 
certainly double him, for he cannot possibly 
make it. Your book is four; your king and 
jack of spades will both take, being guarded 
and being on the proper side of the bid. That 
makes half your book ; three tricks more will 
enable you to defeat him. You can be almost 
sure that he is short, or lacking, in at least one 
suit ; for with the high side-cards in your hand 
he must have a long line of spades to go to 
three, and with so many of them, he is short 
somewhere else. But even so, you can cer- 
tainly squeeze three tricks out of your three 
master-hearts, your major ten-ace in dia- 
monds, and your guarded king and queen of 
clubs. And that is without counting on a 
single trick from your partner. 

But the real reason you double him is 
because you have him, no matter where he 
jumps. It is like trying to defeat an enemy 
in battle; you first cut off every possible 
means of escape, and then you pounce on 
him and demolish him. If in this case your 



88 Complete -A.\Jction Player 

adversary tries to get out by changing his 
bid to ''three no-trumps/' ''four hearts," 
"four diamonds," or "five clubs," you are 
perfectly sure he cannot make it, and you 
can double him again. 

// is not necessary to hold many trumps^ in 
order to double. It is necessary only to hold 
one more trick than your book and to be equally 
able to double any other make, I have seen 
a hand on which "three spades " was correctly 
and successfully doubled when the doubter 
held a singleton deuce of trumps. He had a 
hand of such general strength that he knew 
that he could take more than four tricks no 
matter at what suit the hand was played. And 
that is the essence of doubling-logic. 

Now, let us put the verb into the passive 
mood, and say a word to the player who gets 
doubled. 

Don't get panic-stricken. Play even a 
losing hand calmly. (And a doubled hand is 
by no means always a losing hand.) And 
don't jump to a poorer suit in order to get out 
of a double. That suit may be doubled in 
turn, and you will have to play a poor hand 
doubled, instead of a good hand doubled. 

Never, either as bidder or as bidder's partner y 
make a bid after a double that you would not 



THe Double, and tKe Redoiable 89 

have made, failing that double. If you keep 
this rule, your partners will rise up and call 
you blessed. 

If your partner has been doubled, don't feel 
that you must rescue him. Why should you 
assume that he is terror-stricken? He may 
be perfectly delighted. That double may have 
been music to his ears. Probably he wants 
nothing more than to be let alone. He knew 
what he was about when he bid that hand. 

And anyhow, assuming that he is to be 
beaten, he will lose less on his good hand than 
would you on your poor one. You stand to be 
doubled in your turn, and then where will you 
be? 

I have seen a player go to three hearts on 
this hand: 

^AQJ862 
4^ K 10 3 
OK94 

and I have seen the bid doubled. 

Then I have seen the partner of the first 
bidder go to ^' three spades'' on the queen- 
jack-ten, six, and four, and not another trick 
in the hand! 

Now, I ask you, would any sane person bid 



90 Complete Axiction Player 

''three spades" on five to the queen-jack-ten, 
and not an outside trick, if there had been no 
double? Most certainly notj therefore it is 
not a bid with which to rescue a partner who 
has been doubled, for the simple reason that 
it is certainly far worse than the hand on 
which he voluntarily went to ''three hearts'* ; 
you throw away the good hand and play the 
poor one, simply because you permit your- 
self to be terrorized by a double. If you 
realize that you are bound to be doubled on 
the hand no matter what you do, you will 
soon see how much better it is to be doubled 
on his hand, which he bid with his eyes open 
and in cool judgment, than on your hand, to 
which you fly as a desperate hope. 

I have a favourite way of illustrating this 
to my pupils. Suppose you had a friend 
who was out in a swift current in a nice, 
taut little boat. An onlooker might say: 
"I bet that man can't stem that tide. He is 
going to drown." Overhearing this, would 
you jump on an old water-logged plank and 
paddle out to your friend and cry: "They 
say you will drown in that boat. Pray come 
on to this plank with me." The current is the 
same; the danger is the same. Where is he 
safer ? In his boat, or on your plank ? 



XHe Do-uble, and tKe Redoxible 91 

It is, of course, impossible to know whether 
your partner is pleased or displeased at being 
doubled. If I could make a rule, or establish 
a convention, that would clear away this 
difficulty, I should be the most popular person 
in the Auction world to-day. But such a 
rule, or such a convention, is an utter im- 
possibility. Nevertheless, one thing is cer- 
tain, whether or not he likes his position, you 
probably can not help him out. And that fact 
should keep you from essaying such a thing 
on a hand which is probably far weaker than 
the one on which he bid and was doubled. 

There is just one situation where it is wise 
to take your partner out of a double. Let me 
explain it to you : suppose your partner deals 
and declares a diamond, and second-hand 
passes; you hold very good spades, but do not 
declare them against your partner^s bid, 
because the score makes his diamonds as 
good as your spades. Fourth-hand bids 
hearts, and your partner allows himself to be 
forced up in his diamonds till he is doubled 
by the second player {i. e., the one on his left). 
Now declare your spades if they are good 
enough; you will have no heavier contract 
than your partner's, and though you know 
you will be doubled if he was doubled, you 



92 Complete -A.\iction Player 

have this advantage — the douhling-hand sits 
^' tinder^' you and can be led through; whereas 
he sits ^^ over'' your partner, and has him at a 
disadvantage. This position, and one where 
you hold excellent honours in a high suit (and 
can thus deduct their value from your losses) , 
are the only ones where I should advise you 
to try to pull your partner out of a double. 

One of the weakest points of Auction has 
always been these so-called '^rescue-bids." 
And with the adoption of my rule of never 
doubling anything unless you can double every- 
thing, this weak spot will disappear. Your 
partner, realizing that he is bound to be 
doubled in his turn, will not essay the terrible 
''rescue, '' that is really no rescue at all. 

There are those who say they ''always 
double every high bid on principle." That is 
absurd. It is equivalent to saying that no 
high bid w^as ever successful. Don't fall into 
this error. Double only when, by actual count 
of the tricks in your hand, you see that you can 
probably defeat not only the standing bid, but 
any other possible one. 

When your Partner has Doubled. 

When you partner has doubled, let him 
alone. Don't let even an entire absence of 



TKe Doiable, and tKe Redoxible 93 

trumps in your own hand frighten you into 
taking him out of his double. The fewer you 
have, the more he has. They are probably all 
banked in his hand, against the maker. 

When your partner doubles, he expects to 
take 100 a trick for every trick over two, or 
three, or four (whatever his book may be). 
No one ever doubles a low bid; therefore 
your partner's tricks begin to count the 
moment he has laid away the few tricks that 
form his book (varying according to the size 
of the bid). There could he no excuse for your 
interfering with him and hauling him hack to a 
suit that would he worth hut ten {at the most) 
and that does not hegin to count until after six 
tricks have heen gathered. 

I was playing, one day, with a partner who 
held a wonderful hand. He was '^Z," and I 
was *' Y/' in the accompanying diagram: 



94 



Complete A.\Jction Player 



^ KJ9876 
4I1 108 7 2 
<> 10 3 
45 



^ A Q 10 5 4 3 




Y 




V — 


* A 


A 




B 


41 K9 6543 


KQJ 








987542 


4 742 




Z 




♦ 9 



^2 

* QJ 

A 6 

4^ A K Q J 10 8 6 3 

It was a clean score, on the first game. 

My partner opened with ''two spades" — 
being a preemptive bidder. The following 
adversary answered with *' three hearts"; I 
passed, — from pleasure. B also passed, and 
my partner said ''three spades." A answered 
with "four hearts," and I doubled, both to 
keep my partner from making a spade-bid 
that could not possibly be as valuable as my 
double, and because I did not believe any 
one could make five diamonds or six clubs. 

My partner was so impressed with his 
ninety honours, that he overcalled my 
double with "four spades. " 

One of my doubled tricks would have beaten 



TKe Do\xble, and tKe Redoiable 95 

his go honours; three of my doubled tricks would 
have been greater than the rubber-value, or 
would have beaten a spade grand slam with go 
honours. My tricks began to score by hundreds ^ 
as soon as we had taken in three; his tricks 
began to score in nines, only after we had taken 
in six! 

Now he had no possible chance of rubber, 
as it was the first game. If he made a 
grand slam, he would score 63 for tricks, 100 
for slam, and 90 for honours; a total of 253 
for thirteen tricks. And I could score 300 
for six tricks. Of course, however, he would 
be game-in, on his grand slam, — if he made it! 

As a matter of fact he could make but 2^ 
points and 90 honours, a total of 117 points, 
on the hand; and not a game! He lost one 
heart-round, two clubs, and a diamond. 

I should have made 600 on that hand, and 
he chose to make 117. Do you call that good 
Auction? Why could he not have trusted my 
judgment ? Certainly the ' * fun of playing the 
hand'' was not worth 483 points. 

Again, his 90 honours (with which he was 
so impressed) were ^^ above the line,'' just as 
much as were my doubled tricks. Give me 
six hundred points on one hand, and I will 
give you the rubber on the next two hands, 



96 Complete -A.\ictiori Player 

and will be extremely happy to call it square! 
The more I play Auction, the more I watch 
others play it, the more firmly am I con- 
vinced of this: that, while good playing is not 
infrequent, good bidding is extremely rare; 
good doubling is almost never found (in the 
average run of players) , and good passing is 
an art that has yet to be acquired. 

There are just three things that can 
excuse changing your partner's double back 
to a bid, — and only one of those three is a 
really good reason. They are: 

I. The fact that you have bid illegiti- 
mately and given him false information 
about your hand. 

II. The certainty of scoring a winning 
rubber. 

III. The ability to score very high honours 
in a major-suit. 

The first is imperative; the second is 
allowable ; the third is negligible. 

If you have bid without the ace or king of 
your suit, you have lied to your partner. He 
is trusting you for a quick trick in that suit; 
his double may be based on that hope. You 
must go back to your suit, in order to show 
him that you have spoken falsely; you make 
a *' backward" bid as a danger-signal. 



XHe Double, and tKe Redovible 97 

If you can go rubber, I suppose you are 
right to do it. As I have already said, my 
personal taste prefers 600 to 250. But then, 
all doubles are not worth 600. In most cases, 
the rubber would be preferable. 

High honours I consider no reason at all. 
No possible honours could be worth more than 
100, and that is only what each doubled 
trick is worth. 

And finally, when you have been lucky 
enough to catch the adversaries in a bad bid, 
and have laid up good penalties against 
them, never make a risky hid. The only way 
they can get back their loss is by penalizing 
you. If you never bid unsoundly, they can 
never recoup themselves. 

Remember then : 

After harvesting big penalties, risk nothing. 
Rather yield the bids to the adversaries. 

Never double low bids. 

Never double the only bid you can beat. 

Never double anything when you cannot 
double everything. 

Never try to *' rescue'' with an illegitimate 
bid a partner who has been doubled. 

Never make a bid, because of a double, 
that you would not have dreamed of making, 
failing that double. 



98 Complete Aiaction Player 

Don't forget that your partner may be 
extremely pleased at being doubled. 

Don't interfere with your partner when 
he has made a double. Let him alone ! 

Frequent doubles are the sign of a poor 
game. Show me an inveterate doubler, and 
I will show you a weak player ! 

The Redouble. 

Be very wary about redoubling. 

If you have been doubled and expect to be 
beaten, of course you won't redouble. 

If you have been doubled and know you 
can win, you don't want to risk sending your 
adversary back to his suit (by redoubling), 
imless you know yon can heat him if he does go 
back. Your redouble gives him a loophole 
through which to escape from his unfortunate 
double, and an opportunity to change it to a 
bid of his own. 

The 07ily hand on which you should redouble 
is one on which you are not only practically sure 
of making your cofitract, but one where you are 
prepared to defeat the adversary if he attempts to 
get out with any hid whatever. The following 
hand will illustrate: 



THe 15o\ible, and tKe Redoiable 99 

4^764 

<>J10858 
4Q965 



^ 10 7 4 3 2 
d|iAKQJ53 




^ AKQ J96 
* 

Oak:76 

4kA'7 3 



95 

4I1 10 9 8 2 

0Q42 

4b J10842 



The score on this hand was 18 — all, on the 
second game ; but A-B had lost rather heavily 
in penalties and were anxious to get them 
back. Z bid *'one heart/' 

A said ''two clubs/' 

Y and B passed, and Z bid ''two hearts." 

A bid ''three clubs " on his honours, his two 
singletons, and to push Z up. And when Z 
went to "three hearts" A doubled. I think 
most players would; he held five trumps to 
the ten (thus making his ten good if trumps 
were drawn), and a wonderful club-suit. 
With this he expected first to force Z and, 
later, to take a few rounds when trumps were 



lOO Complete -ALiaction Player 

exhausted. There was also a bare possibiHty 
of taking a trick with his king of spades. 

Z was delighted at the double, for he knew 
he could make his bid; but he proved his 
right to the title of expert by refraining from 
redoubling. Why should he risk frightening 
A back to clubs? And A, or B, would cer- 
tainly have gone to four clubs had Z re- 
doubled, — and they could have made them. 
Z, of course, could have said ''four hearts," 
but if no one doubled him, his tricks would 
have been worth 8 apiece, instead of i6, and 
he would have lost his bonus. 

The bidding closed at ''three hearts'' dou- 
bled, and Z made a small slam. He scored : 

6 tricks at l6 each , 96 points 

4 honours in one hand 64 ** 

Small slam 50 ** 

Bonus 50 *' 

Three extra tricks (50 each) 150 '* 

Total 410 points 

Now suppose he had redoubled, and 
frightened A back to clubs; Z would then 
have said ''four hearts" and no one 
would have doubled him. The hand would 
then have been worth: 



THe Do\ible, and tKe Redouble loi 



6 tricks at 8 each 48 points 

4 honours in one hand 64 ** 

Small slam 50 '' 



Total ' 162 points 

A foolish redouble would have cost Z just 
248 points! 

Here, on the contrary, is a hand on which A 
would have every reason to redouble : 

10 753 
4 65 3 



^AQ 




Y 




^873 


♦ kqj 


A 




B 


4^6433 


OAQ94 




062 


4s:qio9 




Z 




48743 



^ K 10 9 6 
4ii A 10 9 8 
<C>KJ8 

4aj 

It is the rubber-game and the score is 18-10, 
in favour of Z-Y. Z deals and bids ''one 
no-trump.'' 

A can pass and make 100; or he can bid 
''two no-trumps." 



102 Complete A\Jction Player 

If he chooses the latter, Z might possibly 
double. He has what is known as a *'free" 
double. If A makes his bid, he will go rubber 
anyhow, doubled or undoubled. Therefore 
Z might as well get lOO a trick (instead of 50), 
if he defeats him. He holds five possible 
tricks. 

If Z doubles, A must redouble because : 

He is practically sure of making his bid. 

He could defeat '* three spades'* (should Z 
attempt them). He can also defeat ** three 
hearts,'' ''four diamonds," or ''four clubs." 
He has, therefore, a sound redouble. 

Always think twice, then, before redoub- 
ling. And remember that you must not do it 
unless you can make your own bid, and can 
also defeat any bid that the adversary may 
make. 

There is a bluff redouble that sometimes 
works very well, — though I, personally, 
never use it. If a player is doubled and 
expects to be defeated, he redoubles, just to 
frighten the adversary off the double and 
back to his own suit. The reason that I 
don't use it is because it doesn't always work, 
and when it doesn't, it is horribly expensive. 
I haven't much faith in the efficacy of 
Auction bluffs. 



CHAPTER VI 

PREEMPTIVE BIDS 

{Specially recommended to those who like them.) 

A PREEMPTIVE bid is an unnecessarily 
high one. It is made with the object of 
silencing the adversaries and of keeping 
them from giving each other information. 

The duty of the partner of the pre- 
emptive bidder is very explicit. It is simply 
utter passivity. 

If your partner makes a preemptive hid, let 
him alone. That is what he wants and what 
he is asking of you. He has shown an entire 
ability and willingness to run the hand alone ; 
he wants nothing from you, — neither warn- 
ings nor information. 

A preemptive bid is made on a hand that 
is strong in the suit named, but that is weak 
in another suit. It is in order to shut out 
adverse bids in this suit, that the preemptive 

bid is essayed. 

103 



I04 Complete -A."uction Player 

On a hand of universal strength, no one 
need worry about information between ad- 
versaries; whatever they bid can easily be 
overbid, or defeated, by the holder of the very 
strong hand. It is merely when there is a 
flaw in his hand that he bids preemptively. 

A preemptive bid is therefore a confession of 
weakness, communicated to two adversaries 
and to but one partner. That partner, in 
addition, is commanded not to interfere. 

There are also a certain few players who 
still adhere to the very old-fashioned method 
of opening with two bids in order to show 
''a lack of top cards." The bids that should 
properly be deferred till second-rounds 
(queen-bids and jack-bids), they use as two- 
bids for openers. This method is entirely 
passe and should be obsolete. We all tried 
it years ago, found it poor, and dropped it. 
It is not even necessary to discuss here. We 
will confine ourselves to the form of pre- 
emptive bid which I first described. I will 
show you why I dislike it. 

As far as my experience has shown, it is 
never both necessary and effective. When it is 
necessary (or seems so to be), it isn't effec- 
tive. When it is effective, it is not necessary. 

If a player was going to get the bid any- 



Preemptive Bids 105 

how, if the adversaries had no intention of 
bidding, he gets it on his preemptive bid. 
He would have gotten it on a one-bid. His 
preemptive bid was not necessary. He is 
like a man who tries to outshriek a babel, and 
Vv^ho suddenly finds that no one else has 
spoken, or intended to speak. 

When the adversaries were going to bid, 
they bid anyhow. An opening two-bid is 
covered by another two-bid, or by a three- 
bid (by one or the other of the adversaries), 
• — just as blithely as if it had been a one-bid. 
I smile whenever I see it happen, — and that is 
alwaj^s, if the adversaries have bidding-hands. 
They are not silenced, they are not '^shut 
out,*' they are not even inconvenienced. 

/ have never seen a preemptive hid that was 
both necessary and effective. 

There are several other objections to the 
preemptive bid. 

I. It often inconveniences your partner 
rather than your adversary. He will be a 
weight in your suit, and he has a perfectly 
good over-call for a one-bid. But after a 
preemptive opening, he is bound and gagged. 

n. The hands cannot be properly com- 
bined. Instead of reaching out for informa- 
tion, you block it. 



io6 Complete A\iction Player 

III. In keeping the adversaries from 
communicating with each other, you equally 
keep them from telling you things that would 
be useful to you. Those players who open 
their ears and listen are wiser than those who 
close their ears and bellow. It is the old 
story of ^'I talk so loud and so much that I 
have no time to listen'* vs. *^ There are so 
many instructive things to which I want to 
listen that I talk only as much as is really 
necessary to my business.'' 

IV. Preemptive bidders are so in love 
with bidding that they entirely forget the 
penalty-field. If you never let the adver- 
saries bid, you can never defeat them. To 
defeat the hand is worth 50 a trick regardless 
of suit. To play it is worth ten, at the most. 
The great art of coaxing the adversary along 
till you have him where you can defeat him 
to the tune of a hundred, or two, or three, is 
entirely lost on the preemptive bidder. He 
merely plays bid-Bridge; he knows nothing 
of the opportunities offered by penalties. 
The privilege of playing the hand is some- 
thing, but it is not everything! The rubber 
is worth 250 — no more! Does it make sense 
to run so hard for 250 that you will not stop 
to pick up 300 or 400 on the way? 



Preemptive Bids 107 

V. The preemptive method is heavy, 
primitive, and clumsy. In the infancy of 
Auction, everyone bid that way, — I with 
the others. Now I have learned better. The 
preemptive bid is like a bludgeon or a sand- 
bag, intended to silence the adversary with 
one fell blow. The other method is like 
rapier-play, subtle, skilful, graceful, beautiful. 

VI. The preemptive bid often makes the 
adversary wake up, and look at his hand to 
see what it is you fear. He will make a bid 
that he would not otherwise have made, and 
will pull it off successfully, thanks to the pre- 
emptive warning. 

It is not only theoretically that preempt- 
ive bids prove full of flaws. Practically 
they are equally disappointing. They are 
futile. They do not preempt. Under a 
system where the suit-values are only one 
point apart, how are you going to silence your 
adversary? If he has a better hand than you, 
he will get the bid anyhow; if he has a poorer 
hand than you, you might as well get your 
bid as cheaply as possible. The only opening- 
bid that could surely deprive the adversary 
of his bidding-privileges, is '^ seven no- 
trumps." 

Of course, there are hands where informa- 



io8 Complete -A.\iction Player 

tion established between adversaries will 
help them to a successful declaration which 
neither could have made alone; but, on the 
other hand, it will often tempt them to an 
unsuccessful declaration that neither one, 
alone, would have ventured, and the accruing 
penalties will be your reward for permitting 
them to communicate. And when it comes 
to a matter of the play, the adversaries can 
always discover each other's suits : the leads, 
the discards, the *' come-on" cards, are just 
as reliable sources of information as are the 
bids. 

As long as you have to play against ad- 
versaries, you can not bind and gag them. 
If they have anything to say, they will say it. 
And if they haven't, why burden yourself 
with a heavier load than is necessary? Get 
everything as cheaply as you can. 

But, as I have said before, ''facts talk." 
I will give you a few actual hands as examples 
of preemptive bidding. The first was played 
in Nassau, Bahamas, and I was ''B." 

The score was 8-0 on the rubber-game, in 
favour of Z-Y: 



Preemptive Bids 



109 



^ Q3 
4I1 Q10 6 3 

4^ J32 



^ AK 




Y 




Z> J 10 97654 


J^ Kd874 


A 




B 


4i AJ5 


109873 








<> AKJ 


♦ 10 




Z 




♦ — 



^ 82 

4^ 2 

4 

4^ AKQ987654 

Z opened with ''two spades," in order to 
shut out hearts. 

A and Y passed, and, failing that pre- 
emptive bid, I should have passed also. My 
only suit was jack-high, and I am not a jack- 
bidder. I should simply have closed the 
bidding, hoping that A and I, together, could 
save game. 

Had Z opened with *'one spade," no one 
would have bid against him. My partner 
couldn't, his partner didn't have to, and I 
would have been barred by my jack-suit. Z 
would have made three-odd and rubber. 

But the moment he made his preemptive 
opening, Z announced: ''I am afraid of 



no Complete -A.\iction Player 

something, — please don't bid it. If you two 
adversaries only knew what I know, I should 
be done for/' We sat up and began to take 
notice; my partner's hand solved no mys- 
teries, and he passed. My hand screamed the 
secret from the housetops, and I promptly 
answered with ''three hearts.'' 

It is true that I lacked my ace, king, and 
queen. But Z didn't hold them — he had 
practically said so. It was an even toss 
between Y and my partner; if Y held them, 
we had no chance of rubber from the begin- 
ning of things. If my partner held them, 
there might be some fun. There was. 

Z could make three-odd in spades — no 
more, no less. I could make a grand slam in 
hearts, and I should never have known it, 
never have tried, never have bid, never have 
established the slightest communication with 
my partner, except for the particular form of 
Z's opening-bid. 

My partner held the ace-king of my suit, a 
side-singleton, and a side-king. He could 
have raised twice, or thrice, but he didn't 
have to. One raise from him was enough for 
me. I should have bid my hand to almost 
any point. The ''preemptive" bid didn't 
preempt, you see. 



Preemptive Bids III 

Remember this, then, if a man opens with a 
preemptive bid, he fears something. If your 
hand gives no indication of what he fears, 
pass; your partner's hand may be more 
illuminating. But if you have reason to 
think you know his weakness, bid; bid even 
two or three tricks in excess of what your 
hand warrants. Don't be ''shut out." 
Then no one but the dealer's partner can 
possibly be inconvenienced by the bid. 

This comes from a preemptive bidder (it 
is approximate; I haven't the exact quotation 
with me) : ' ' It is laughable to see the strong 
hands on which we are supposed to open with 
two-bids. Granted a strong major-suit and 
strong side-support, we always open with a 
one-bid. But if we hold one major-suit, and 
are very weak in the other, we open with a 
two-bid to prevent communication between 
our adversaries and the ultimate establishing 
of the suit we fear." 

How can anyone be fooled with such soph- 
istries? How could such a system work 
more than once? The moment a man opens 
with a two-bid, you say to yourself: ''He is 
afraid of some suit; which is it?" You look 
at your hand and decide, and you bid that 
suit. You bid it if you break every rule in 



112 Complete -AL\iction Player 

the list; you bid it at the expense of two or 
three tricks, because he has virtually told 
you that you must. And if your hand doesn't 
warrant it, your partner's probably does. 
One of you is apt to hold a preponderance 
of the suit which the dealer fears; and the 
one who holds such length must bid it. 

Then there is the remaining chance that 
the long adverse suit is held by the dealer's 
own partner, that there was no necessity for 
the shut-out bid, that the two hands don't 
*'fit, " or that you and your partner were out 
of the race from the beginning. 

The man who bids unnecessarily high is 
afraid of something; he talks loud to cover 
the fact, — like a bully who swaggers to hide 
his fear. Here is a Boston hand : 



Preemptive Bids 



113 



^ J876 

A KQJ9876 

— 





4 J 10 




9 A53 


y 




dJV 10 4 






— 


A 


B 


4k AQ7654 32 


z 





^ Q43 

O K98765 

4 h:98 



^ K10 9 

4ii A52 

0> AQJ10 432 



Z opened with ''four diamonds, " to shut out 
any adverse spade-bid, 

A was perfectly able to make this spade- 
bid and to keep it. But he didn't bid. He 
realized that Z had probably bid his hand 
to the top-notch, and that four diamonds 
wouldn't put him game (he had nothing on 
the score). He passed, and left Z with a ten- 
trick contract. 

Y didn't care to say *'five clubs'' with six 
losing cards and lacking the ace of his suit. 
Besides, his partner's bid had said: '*Get out 
of my way, I don't need you." He passed, 
and of course B passed, — tickled to death. 

The success of preemptive bids pre- 



114 Complete Aviction Player 

supposes the inability of the adversaries to 
pass, — or to make their bid, if they bid. A 
could have bid, and made, ''four spades'*; 
then the shut-out bid would have been futile, 
because it didn't shut out. 

Of course, Z was defeated. Property bid, 
the hand would have been played at clubs, — 
because Y would have made one warning 
over-call and Z would have switched. Z-Y 
could have made a small slam in clubs, or 
could have defeated an adverse ''five spades.'' 
The partner, and not the adversary, was in- 
convenienced by the preemptive opening 
bid. 

It is much more important that your hid 
should be convenient to your partner than that it 
shoidd he inconvenient to the adversaries! 

If it were not that truth is stranger than 
fiction, I would not ask any one to believe 
that I once actually dealt myself this hand: 

^AKQ 108 65432 
4^ AKQ 

— 

♦ — 

I confess that my first impulse was to bid 
*' seven hearts, " just to experience the sensa- 
tion, and because I could not fail to make it. 



Preemptive Bids 115 

But sober second-thought forbade. If I bid a 
grand slam right off the bat, how could I hope 
'to be doubled? I know that if I heard any 
one else make such a bid I should feel sure he 
held the material for it, and I should never 
dream of doubling him (unless I knew him for 
an idiot). 

Suppose, even, that I had the luck to be 
doubled. I could make my contract, but I 
could by no possibility get *'a trick over the 
contract, '' because there are but seven-odd in 
a hand. I listened to the whispers of reason 
and bid ''one heart.'' 

A said ''one spade'' on this combination: 

4^ 2 

O A754 

4 A K 10 9 73 

My partner, Y, went by on this hand : 

4i J9853 
KQ103 
4b J864 

Fourth hand, B, passed; he, of course, held 
these cards: 



Ii6 Complete Aviction Player 

^ 9 

4ii 10 7 6 4 

J9863 

I went to ''two hearts, " and from then on 
hearts and spades were bid against each other. 
B gave his partner one raise ; it was a Hght one 
and just within the limits of legitimacy. His 
guarded trump-honour was ''a trick, '' and his 
singleton heart was ''a raiser." However, it 
served to raise A's hopes, and to send him up 
to ''four spades, " with six losing cards in his 
hand. When I went to "five hearts," he 
doubled me, and my prayers were answered. 
He had two aces in his hand; if they took, 
they would make his book. If his king of 
spades took, if he got a ruff on the clubs, or if 
his partner captured one trick, the double 
would win. 

Don't gasp w^hen I tell you that I did not 
redouble. I passed and closed the bidding. 
Suppose I redoubled and he went back to 
spades — how could I tell that he couldn't 
make it ? Even though I covered his bid by 
saying "six hearts," what assurance had I 
that he would double me again? And, even 
if he did (and it would be more luck than I 



Preemptive Bids 117 

deserved) , I could not possibly get more than 
one *' extra trick" on a six-bid, and I was 
sure of two of them on a five-bid. 

My profits were: Seven tricks worth 16 
apiece ; 50 for contract ; 50 each for two extra 
tricks; 64 for honours; 100 for slam — a total 
of 426. Quite- enough for one hand ! 

Could any preemptive bidding have been 
as satisfactory as that ? 

Here is a bid, the results of which pleased 
me greatly: 

Z dealt himself these cards : 

9 K2 

AKQ1042 
4^ KQ87 

He was a preemptive bidder, and opened 
with *'two diamonds, '' to show high honours, 
and that he wanted to be let alone with his 
suit. The score being twenty-four to nothing 
in his favour, the diamond-bid was better 
than a no-trump, because of the club single- 
ton and the short hearts. 

I was playing A, and nearly fainted when I 
heard Z's bid, for this was my hand : 



Ii8 Complete Axiction Player 

9 AJ875 

4^ 10 

J987653 
♦ — 

Ordinarily, I should never have dreamed of 
hoping to force an adversary very high in dia- 
monds, when I held seven to the jack myself, 
but as Z had been kind enough to announce 
that he held four honours and wanted to 
play the hand, I knew I could get him up. I 
bid *'two hearts/' 

Y, relieved of the necessity of a warning-bid, 
wisely passed on this hand^ 

^ 943* 

4li KQJ942 

— 

4^ A432 

He would have been willing to try *'two 
clubs,'* but not three. He could have been 
defeated at three. 

B (my partner) passed, with these cards: 

^ Q10 6 
4b A8 765 

— 

4 J 109 6 5 



Preemptive Bids 



119 



Then Z went to his doom with *Hhree dia- 
monds/' which was exactly what I wanted. 
I doubled in order to stop B from raising the 
hearts, and Z's defeat was accomplished. 

Here is one more hand: 





^ 97 

4» J7432 






1087 6 
i Q9 




^854 
4^ Q 10 8 
J 432 


Y 
A B 


^ A 32 
4f K65 
C> K95 


4 AE6 


Z 


4^ J 10 7 2 




9 K Q J 10 6 
4^ A9 
AQ 
4^ 8543 





Z was another preemptive bidder. He 
opened the bidding with ''two hearts'' to 
show strength, high honours, and that he 
wanted to be let alone. And it looks like a 
very good two-heart hand; yet, if A-B play 
correctly, Z cannot possibly make two-odd. 
By the cleverest of playing he can take just 
the odd, and it would be an unusually good 
player who would take even one-odd on a 



120 Complete Aiaction Player 

closed hand, — pre-supposing, always, that 
A-B played right. Not even brilliance is 
demanded of them; just an ordinarily good 
game. 

By insisting on playing the hand, by trying 
to block an adverse spade-bid (that would 
never have been made, anyhow), Z over- 
reached himself and scored his own' defeat. 
Even if the adversaries had wanted to bid 
spades, Z would have been far wiser to let 
them do it and thus to give his own poverty- 
stricken partner a chance to impart the in- 
formation that he hadn^t a raiser in his hand. 
Then Z (holding seven losers) would have 
realized that it wouldn't pay him to play the 
hand, and would have dropped the bid. He 
would thus have avoided defeat. 

I could multiply instances indefinitely, but 
they would but reiterate what I have already 
said. No lesson could be more emphatic 
than that taught by these few hands. If my 
pen were sufficiently persuasive to induce 
players to give up preemptive bids, to 
remember that playing the hand is not every- 
thing, and to pay due attention to the penalty- 
field, I should rest content. Here is one drop 
of essence: 

When you bid, don't hray. 



CHAPTER VII 

PREEMPTIVE RAISES 

Preemptive raises are unnecessary raises. 
Under the right conditions, they are as good 
as preemptive bids are bad. 

When your hand fits your partner's, it is 
often well to raise him even if you don't have 
to. This is a very different thing from making 
a high bid when you don't know whether or not 
your hand and your partner's hand fit. 

If your partner has a good bid and you 
have an excellent raise, it is clearly one of 
those cases where your combined hands 
should be used for playing rather than defeating 
the hid. Therefore, it is not so necessary to 
listen to information from the adversaries. 
Their leads and plays will be sufficient in- 
formation as to their holdings. 

Of course, a preemptive raise reopens the 
bidding and thus may give a second-round 
chance to an adversary who has already 
passed. That chance may be just what he 

121 



122 Complete Aiaction Player 

wants. This is the sole objection to the pre- 
emptive raise, and it is outweighed by its 
frequent advantages. 

It is against preemptive bids from those 
players who have yet to hear from their partners, 
that I wage my special war. When your 
partner has bid, when your hand fits his as a 
glove fits the hand it covers, raise him w^hen- 
ever you please, — whether you need or not. 

Four tricks (a trick and three raisers) are 
usually demanded for a preemptive raise. 
With fewer than four, you are supposed to 
give only necessary raises. But I quite 
often give a preemptive raise on three tricks 
and considerable general strength. 

One instance of a preemptive raise will 
suffice: 



Preemptive IVaises 



123 



V — 

4i AKQ942 
KQ62 
4 375 



9 10 9 74 




Y 




^ AKJ862 


4k 108 7 


A 




B 


4I1 J53 


53 








08 


4 J 10 9 6 




Z 




4 432 



9 Q53 

AJ10 9 7lt 
4 AKQ 



Z opened with ''a no-trump, " /^w^ showing 
that he held but one unguarded suit. A passed, 
and it came to Y. Y feared a heart-bid from 
B, which would determine A's lead. He knew 
that, in all probability, his partner (Z) held 
a heart-stopper, — as his ** unprotected suit" 
was almost certainly clubs. Y, therefore, 
cleverly bid ''two no-trumps,*' to shut out a 
heart-hid from B, or to push that hid to three. 
B passed, and A, unaware of his partner's 
suit, led the jack of spades, — thus enabling 
Z to make a grand slam. With a heart-lead, 
he could have made but five-odd. 

Of course, A-B couldn't have made three 



124 Complete Aiaction Player 

hearts, — they couldn't have made two. But 
B could have invited a heart-lead by a 
** two-heart" bid,— while he hesitated to bid 
three against two no-trump adversaries. 
Y's bid was a very clever coup! 



CHAPTER VIII 

INFORMATORY DOUBLES 

Informatory doubles are doubles of one- 
bids, made to give information to one's 
partner and not intended for business. The 
player who doubles a one-bid doesn't want to 
play it; he always wants to be taken out. It 
follows that, if you are his adversary you 
must never take him out (because that would 
be to help him); and if you are his partner, 
you must never leave him in. 

Anyone who doubles a ''one no-trump'' is 
saying to his partner: ''I, too, have a no- 
trump hand. Bid two in your best suit, no 
matter what it is, for I will give you general 
support.'' The partner thus commanded, 
is frequently forced to bid ''two clubs" on 
four to a seven-spot (or some similar bid), 
and is often heavily defeated. All the good 
cards have been divided between the two 
no-trump hands; the club-bid hits strength 
in the adverse no-trumper, instead of in 

125 



126 Complete A.\Jction Player 

the friendly no-trumper, and the bid goes to 
smash. I have had my partner double a 
*'one no-trump, *' and put it up to me to bid 
two in my best suit. I have bid ''two 
hearts'' on the ace-king- jack-small, and been 
defeated by two tricks. 

A far better way of getting around the same 
situation is to use your own no-trumper to 
play against the adverse no-trumper and to 
hold it down; or else, to bid ''two no-trumps" 
against the adverse "one no-trump,*' if j^ou 
are very strong, or if the adverse bidder 
could take rubber on his bid. It is worth a 
trick or two to play the hand ; you can force 
the adversary to discard on your suits, in 
place of his forcing you to discard on his 
suits. 

The player who doubles a one-bid in any 
suit says to his partner: "I have a no- 
trumper except for the fact that I don't 
stop that suit. Do you?" 

If his partner does, all will go well; but if he 
doesn't. Heaven help him! He must bid. 
But I don't know what to tell him to bid, 
and I have never seen anyone else who could 
supply such information. 

There are a certain few players who double 
a one-bid in any suit, in order to show a 



Informatory Do\ibles 127 

stopper if the partner wants to go to no- 
trumps. But the generally accepted meaning 
of such a double is *'a no-trumper except 
for lack of a stopper in the suit named/' 
I object to informatory doubles, because: 

I. They are unethical. They don't mean 
what they say, and they give information 
by false {i, e,, illegitimate) bids. 

II. They are tremendously apt to be in- 
convenient to one's partner. 

III. The day of forced bids is over. It 
should never be resurrected. 

IV. There is always a better way of 
getting round the same situation. 

However, there is a certain school of 
players who love false bids and ''calls." 
The moment they are obliged to drop one 
set, they rake up another. They seem unable 
to grasp, or appreciate, the straightforward 
game. 

I have found the consensus of intelligent 
and expert opinion heavily against infor- 
matory doubles. I have seen men start out 
with the idea that this game of informatory 
doubles was ''the only game.'' And I have 
seen them find it so expensive in actual play 
that they have dropped it in disgust. 

If you play this game, or if you meet it, 



128 Complete -A-uction Player 

you must know what to do. The advice is 
easily given: 

As partner y never pass an informatory double; 
as adversary y never bid against it. 

And one more bit of advice I will offer to 
my readers : 

Let informatory doubles alone! 



CHAPTER IX 

THE SHIFT 

When you hold two equally long, and 
equally well-established suits, always bid 
the higher one first. This is in accordance 
with the ''process of elimination,'* and is 
obviously good sense. If no one else bids, 
you play your hand at its best value; and if 
there are several rounds of bidding and yoti 
name your lower suit last, your partner 
can go back to your higher one, without 
increase of contract, if it happens to suit 
him better than your lower one. This is 
known as the ''shift''; it is like walking 
down-staiTSy one step at a time, instead of up- 
stairs ; and it is a very useful form of bidding. 

Suppose you hold the following hand : 

^ KJ9543 
4l 3 

— 

*4 KQ J532 
129 



130 Complete Axiction Player 

Your correct opening bid is ''one spade.'* 
On a later round (if there be one), you say 
''two hearts/' This gives your partner his 
choice. If he prefers your second-suit to 
your first, he can raise it, if necessary. If 
he Hkes spades better, he can change your 
"two hearts*' to "two spades'* without in- 
crease of contract. 

If you reversed the process, it might 
happen this way: 

You open with "a heart''; second hand 
passes, and your partner passes. Fourth 
hand says, "two diamonds," and you say 
"two spades." This strikes your partner 
badly. He liked your hearts and he doesn't 
like your spades. In order to tell you so, he 
will have to take on a heavier contract by 
changing your "two spades" to "three 
hparts. " 

The principle of bidding your highest suit 
first and of then naming your lower ones in 
the order of their value, is known as the 
"shift." It is exceedingly useful. Don't 
forget it when your hand offers you the 
choice of two or more bids. 



CHAPTER X 

TEAM-WORK 

There is no part of Auction that has made 
greater strides than team-work. The com- 
bining of the two hands, by means of legiti- 
mate bidding and overcalHng, has reached 
the height of perfection. 

In tennis, it is a well-known fact that the 
man who holds the championship for singles is 
rarely a wonderful player in doubles. Occa- 
sionally, a man appears whose gifts are 
equally great in both lines, and then he is a 
star of the first magnitude. But, as a rule, 
the man whose work in singles is perfection, 
is the one whose team-work leaves something 
to be desired. 

And so in Auction! I have seen scores of 
persons whose art was perfection when it was 
a question of playing their own hands com- 
bined with dummy's; their accuracy was 
flawless; they never dropped a trick. And 
their team-work in playing was excellent, 

131 



132 Complete -Auction Player 

even when the adversaries had captured the 
bid; but their team-nvrk in bidding was 
atrocious ! 

While I admire the faultless player in- 
tensely, I should choose the faultless bidder 
for my partner. Give me the man who never 
offers me false information; who never 
declares the king when his highest card is the 
jack; who never makes a double that will 
give the adversaries a chance for a safe shift ; 
who knows how to stop bidding his own suit 
and leave me my better one; who can prac- 
tise self-effacement when the cards demand 
it ; who will give me a warning over-call when 
my bid strikes a bad combination in his hand; 
who will give me the opportunity to tell him that 
his bid is unwelcome to me; and above all, who 
thrusts no undesirable responsibilities upon me^ 
in the shape of conventional bids to which I am 
Jorced to respo7id, whether I like it or not ! 

I do not consider conventional doubles 
good team-work. Sometimes they suit the 
partner's hand, and sometimes not. When 
they do not, they are execrable team-work. 
When they do, they are unnecessary team- 
work. Legitimate information, given by 
bids, with which the bidder is wilHng and 
able to be left, show much more consideration 



Team-WorK 133 

to his partner and,^ at the same time, tell all 
that a player should be permitted to tell. 

There are no longer any ''rescue'' bids! I 
wish all players could grasp this fact. **I 
must take my partner out of a double/' is 
a sentiment that is responsible for many 
Auction fiascoes. 

It is seldom wise to attempt to ''rescue'' 
your partner from a double. Good players 
do not double one suit unless they can double 
all suits. This means that you will be 
doubled, in your turn, and that you have 
made your bid because you were frightened, 
while your partner made his because he 
wanted to and because he considered his 
hand was worth it. His hand is almost 
certainly stronger than yours on which you 
are attempting to ''rescue" him. It is better 
that he should play the strong hand than 
that you should play the weak one. He may 
even like the double ! 

If your partner is the one who makes a 
double, let him alone! Don't change his 
double to a bid, unless that bid will put you 
rubber. His double is worth a hundred a 
trick; your bid cannot possibly be so valuable ; 
his tricks begin to count after you have taken 
three, or four, or five, — yours not till after you 



134 Complete -A."uction Player 

have laid up your book of six tricks. If he 
doubles the adversary's hearts, for instance, 
don't get frightened because you, yourself, 
hold no hearts. The very fact that you have 
none, shows that they are all banked in your 
partner's hand ! 

If you play with persons who use informa- 
tory doubles of one-bids, as adversary, never 
take them out ; as partner^ never leave them in. 

Confine your own doubles to ''business 
doubles," and remember that you have the 
consensus of important opinion on your side. 

One of the foundations of good team-work 
is the following rule : 

If your partner makes a bid in hearts or 
spades, never interfere with him, unless as a 
warning that your hand will be an absolutely 
hopeless one in his suit, or unless you hold four 
or five honours in a high suit. If he bids the 
other major suit {no-trumps) , play either hearts 
or spades in preference, even with strong help. 
Play no minor suit in preference, except as a 
danger signal. 

A good heart is good enough for anyone. 

A good spade is good enough for anyone. 

A good no-trump is good enough for anyone, 
unless he can play hearts or spades. 

If your partner bids hearts, never change it 



Team-WorK 135 

to anything, unless you are ** chicane'* in 
hearts (or have only one little spot) , or unless 
you have four or five honours in spades, or a 
hundred aces for no-trump. If you have a 
singleton heart that is the ace, the king, or 
the queen, let his suit alone. Your honour 
will help him clear it; it may even take a 
trick. If you have two little hearts, let his 
suit alone; your two trumps added to the 
five which he must probably hold will give 
him the bigger half of all the trumps in the 
pack. Don*t change to ''two clubs'' on a 
wonderful club-suit; use that as a side-suit 
for his hearts. Wouldn't you rather have 
trumps worth eight and side-suit worth six, 
than trumps worth six and side-suit worth 
eight ? 

Again, don't change his hearts to no-trumps 
unless you have a hundred aces. If you have 
not, let him play his hearts, and give him 
your no-trump hand in support. It takes four 
of his suit, and three of yours, to go game. 
Your no-trump hand should certainly supply 
that extra trick. Your hand helps his heart 
hand, hy supplying good side-suit; his hand 
may not work well with your no-trump. It is 
not necessarily a long established suit on 
which he bids *'a heart." 



136 Complete A\Jction Player 

Still again, don't change his hearts to 
spades, unless you hold seventy-two honours, 
or eighty honours, or cannot help at all, to 
play hearts. True, spades are higher than 
hearts; but they are no better for game. It 
takes four of either to go game; give him, 
then, your spades as side support. 

If your partner bids ''a heart" second 
hand passes, and you hold this : 

^ 942 

J^ AKQ1086 ; 

pass also, on a clean score. It takes five clubs 
and only four hearts to go game. You have 
three trumps, a side-singleton, and a wonder- 
ful side-suit. Don't be dazzled by those club- 
honours, unless you have enough on the 
score to go game in clubs with two- or three- 
odd. In that case, you might as well bid 
them and get your honours. But on a clean 
score, play ' 'hearts " rather than clubs. Your 
partner's hearts might make a wretched side- 
suit; they might be long and scattered; one 
adversary might stop them and the other 
might ruff them. Your clubs cannot fail to 
be a wonderful side-suit after trumps are 



Team-\VorK 137 

gone; they would also make forcers, if the 
adversary held the long trump. 

Pass your partner's ''heart "-bid, on the 
following hands : 

^ 85 
* Q9 

8653 
4b AKQ62 

(unless your score is just twelve ; in that case, 
over-call with ''a spade'' ; eighteen would put 
you game and sixteen would not). 



V 


Q 


Jh 


K843 





AK72 


4^ 


9853 


V 


J73 


Jh 


AKSS 





k:q4 


♦ 


A3'3 



Over-call on the following hands: 

^ 975 

4i K 10 

53 

4b A KQIO 8 2 

C'A spade" is your proper bid, because of 
the honours.) 



138 Complete Auction Player 

4» AKQ9 853 
Q74 

(Over-call with " two-clubs, " as a warning.) 

4^ AK542 
KQ86 
4 KJ4 

(Over-call with ''two clubs/' or **a no- 
trump/' The latter bid is a signal that you 
cannot help hearts, but have every other suit 
well stopped. If your partner goes back to 
*'two hearts/' let him alone. Don't warn 
twice! It might be a disastrous no-trumper. 
If your partner's suit didn't clear in one 
round and if he held no side reentry, you 
could not use his hearts. If the ace-queen 
of spades and the ace of diamonds lay on the 
wrong side of you, you would have but three 
tricks in yoiu* hand.) 

This is the acme of good team-work. 
Formerly, if your partner opened with ''a 
heart," and second-hand passed, you would 
say ''two clubs" on this hand: ' 



Team-'WorK 139 

^ K95 

4^ AKQ98762 

A 

Some people bid that way yet, but it is poor 
team-work. Just look what your partner 
can do with his own hearts and your hand 
for support ! 

Now take every rule that I have just given 
you for hearts, and apply it to spades. 
Don't over -call a heart-bid or a spade-bid 
except for the reasons just specified. And 
that brings us to no-trumps. 

Over-call no-trumps with good hearts or 
good spades, even with a perfectly good 
no-trump assist. Over-call no4rumps from 
strength in either of the other major suits. 

Over-call no-trumps with hearts or spades, 
on a good trump-suit but nothing else. 

Over-call no-trum.ps with hearts or spades 
on a thoroughly weak hand that is poor in 
every suit (even trumps), but which holds 
''five trumps to an honour, or six to any- 
thing.'' 

Over-call no-trumps with diamonds or 
clubs, on a good trump-suit but nothing else. 

Over-call no-trumps with diamonds or 



140 Complete Auction Player 

clubs, with a thoroughly poor hand, but with 
**five trumps to an honour, or six to any- 
thing/' 

Even with a wretchedly poor hand, don't 
over-call unless you have the requisite 
material. Never over-call on any jour-card 
suit. 

A mistaken idea has arisen that a warning 
bid must necessarily be ''backward,'' — i. e., 
must be in a suit that is lovv^er than your 
partner's. This is not true. If, on a clean 
score, your partner bids ''a heart," the next 
adversary passes, and you say ''a spade," 
that is a warning bid. Spades are higher 
than hearts, but they are no better for game, 
on a clean score. If you had any heart-help, 
you would pass and use your spades as a side- 
suit, unless they held Jour or five honours. 
Your over-call therefore shows that you lack 
heart-help, or hold high honours in a better 
suit ! It is a warning to get away from hearts. 
If your partner goes back to his hearts, let 
him alone, unless you hold five spade-honours! 
His return to his suit, after your warning 
over-call, may show that he has five heart- 
honours and is chicane in spades. Your suit 
may fit him no better than his fits you. If 
you do happen to hold five spade-honours, go 



Team-WorK 141 

back again to your spades, and then he should 
let you alone. You have positively announced 
high honours in a better suit than his. Your 
first over-call may simply have been a declara- 
tion of heart- weakness and a fair spade-suit. 
Your second over-call announces positively 
that your hand is more valuable than his 
can possibly be. It is very bad team-work 
when two partners continue to bid each 
other up, while the adversaries sit still and 
smile at the thought of the penalties which 
grow more probable every moment. 

Remember, then, when you warn, do it on 
the first round, do it only if you have the mate- 
rial, and do it only once, — unless your suit is 
better than your partner's can possibly be. 

Good team-work presupposes a certain 
amount of self-effacement and the considera- 
tion of one's partner as well as of one's self. 

All that I have just said, presupposes that 
the adversary passes your partner's bid. If 
he bids, in place of passing, it is a different 
question. You need worry no longer over 
danger-signals and warnings; you have your 
choice of four things: passing, raising your 
partner's bid, naming a suit of your own, and 
doubling the adversary. 

Never pass, when you should raise. Never 



142 Complete Axiction Player 

pass when you should bid. Never pass 
when you should double. And never do any 
of these three things when you should pass. 

The raising-rules have been already ex- 
plained. The combination of bid and raise 
lies in this one system : 

Let the making hand count all losing cards; 
let the assisting hand announce all '^ raiser s^\' 
then let the making hand deduct his partner's 
announced takers from his own losers^ and he 
will know how high to bid. 

Allow one probable trick to your partner. 
Ninety per cent, of the hands dealt contain at 
least one trick. But unless your partner tells 
you that he has more, donH expect them of him. 
And give him a chance to speak. Let him affirm^ 
or deny, assistance. 

Don't try to play all the hands; for you can 
not do it. And over -bidding is the most expen- 
sive of pastimes and the commonest of faults. 

Unless your bid would put you game, be 
content to yield it to the adversary, unless his bid 
would put him game. 

Don't be entranced with partial games. 

Don't risk much to save game. Risk quite a 
bit to save rubber. 

Save game by your play, and rubber by your 
bid. 



Team-WorK 143 

Remember that there are two objects in play- 
ing a hand: one is to take tricks^ and the other is 
to command suits. 

And, finally, don't open with preemptive 
bids. They are atrocious team-work. 

What would you think of a tennis-player 
who was playing a set of doubles and who 
would say to his partner: '^Get out of my 
way. I'm going to dispense with you entirely. 
I'm going to play net, and I'm going to play 
back. Stand over there on the side-line, and 
don't let me see you move a finger. " 

He may be strong enough to do it, but that is 
not the way to play doubles! 

Learn to think of your partner as well as of 
yourself. Watch the score every minute. 
Use your brain. Give your partner a chance 
to use his. Don't forget that ^Hwo heads are 
better than one." Let your partner alone; 
don't interfere with him unless there is a 
reason. And a reason can be but one of two 
things: that your hand is more valuable 
than his, at the given score; or, that it is so 
poor that it would hurt him, and that it 
contains the requisite material with which to 
warn. 



CHAPTER XI 

PLAYING AGAINST THE BID 

With a poor hand, it is nearly always less 
expensive to play against the make. Nothing 
is so expensive as allowing the adversary to 
defeat you heavily. 

Even with a good hand, it is often more 
profitable to play against the make. Not all 
good hands should be used for taking the make 
away from the adversaries. Often they should 
be used for defeating purposes. 

The desirable thing is not to play the most 
hands. It is to make the highest possible 
score on your cards. 

Choose always the higher of two possible 
profits, and the lower of two necessary losses. 

We have now covered entirely the bidding- 
field. Anyone who knows all that this book 
contains, up to this point, knows enough to 
be a bidder above criticism. 

It is fortunate that the rules of good bidding 
are easily acquired; everyone concedes that 
144 



Playing Against tHe Bid 145 

it is more important to be a perfect bidder 
than a perfect player. More can be lost by- 
poor bidding than by poor playing. 

Bidding can be entirely learned from books. 
It can be entirely learned from this book. 

Playing needs practice — and long practice 
— before it nears perfection. But much can 
be learned from printed precepts, and with- 
out them, practice would certainly be less 
helpful. 

The remainder of this volume will be 
devoted to the play of the hand, beginning 
with a condensed list of the initial (or open- 
ing) leads. These are sometimes known as 
the ''blind" leads, and every player should 
know them as thoroughly as he knows his 
alphabet. Until he does, he cannot hope to 
rank as a player of any skill. 

The entire list of leads can easily be learned 
in half-an-hour by any person of average 
intelligence. 



CHAPTER XII 

THE LEADS 

When you lead to your partner's bid, you 
always lead your highest card. That is, 
suppose your partner has been bidding hearts, 
but has been outbid by the other side, and 
it is your original lead. If you lead a heart, 
you must lead the highest one you hold. This 
enables him to read the suit and to place the 
cards that he lacks. 

And you should always lead to your 
partner's bid, unless you have a very good 
lead of your own — sometimes even when you 
have a good lead of your own. 

In those cases where he has not bid (and 
occasionally even when he has), you lead 
according to your own hand. Your lead must 
give your partner reliable information of what 
you hold. Every lead means something. 

The declarant has the inestimable ad- 
vantage of seeing twenty-six cards, all of 
which belong to him, and of combining them 

146 



THe I^eads 147 

to his best advantage. The adversaries, 
groping for such combination, must com- 
municate with each by the play of their 
cards. Information should always be given 
by play of cards, never by word of mouth. Given 
by cards, it takes skill to impart, skill to ready 
and there is always the sporting chance that a 
player lacks the requisite cards and is forced to 
circumvent that lack by his wits. 

Information conveyed by word of mouth 
takes no skill to give, none to read, and there 
is no sporting chance. Nothing but sudden 
paralysis of the tongue could inconvenience 
its giver. 

The following rules apply to the original 
opening-leads. Subsequent leads (''interior 
leads") follow the same rules except when 
obviously modified by the cards exposed in 
dummy, or by information received during 
the play. 

Against Any Declared Trump 

(Hearts, diamonds, clubs, or spades) : 

Your best lead is always from two honours 
that touch (ace-king, king-queen, queen- 
jack, or jack-ten), and the higher the honours 
the better the lead. The lead of king, from 
ace-king, is the best in the pack, as it usually 



148 Complete j\\iction Player 

takes the trick, leaves you in command of 
the suit, and gives your partner a chance to 
'^echo." 

Holding two honours that do not touch, try 
to let the suit come up to you. 

Holding any three honours your lead is 
always one of those honours. There is no 
exception to this rule in a declared trump; 
some authorities consider ace-king-ten a bad 
combination, and think it unsafe to lead 
from it; but I can see no objection to the lead 
of the king. 

Holding no two- or three-honour suit, lead 
fourth-best from a single honour (that is not 
an ace), or lead ''short. " 

A ''short'' lead is a singleton or a double- 
•ton. 

Rarely lead short when you hold good 
trumps ; keep them to defeat the make instead 
of ruffing with them. And, of course, never 
lead short when you are chicane ; there would 
be no object. 

In leading from a two-card suit, always 
lead the higher card first. This constitutes 
an "echo.'* 

Never lead fourth-best from two honours, 
or three honours ; simply from a single honour 
that is not an ace. 



The l^eads 149 

If you lead from an ace-suit, lead the ace 
itself, unless you hold king as well. Never 
lead low from a suit that is headed by the ace. 

The lead of an ace denies the king, 
unless it is immediately followed by the king, 
when it means ''no more of that suit." 
Always lead ace from an ace-suit, unless you 
have king as well, or unless your next card 
is the queen and you lack a third honour. 

The lead of a king means the ace, the 
queen, or both. 

The lead of a queen means jack and 
others, and denies all higher cards. 

The lead of a jack means the top of a 
sequence, or the top of nothing. It denies 
all higher cards. 

''The lead of the ten means the two 
gentlemen" (king-jack-ten). Some players 
lead the jack from this combination, but the 
ten is more conservative. The ten may also 
be led from the top of a sequence, or the top 
of nothing. 

Holding all three high honours (ace, 
king, queen), lead first king and then queen. 
To follow the king with the ace is to deny the 
queen. 

All other leads are either fourth-best from a 
single honour, or short. 



150 Complete Axiction Player 

Against No-trump. 

Your lead is always the fourth-best card of 
your longest suit, unless you hold a seven- 
card suit, or a three-honour suit, in which 
case you may lead high. The single exception 
to leading an honour from a three-honour 
hand is when those honours are ace-jack-ten, 
or ace-queen-ten, and you have no side reentry. 
Then your lead is fourth-best; but with re- 
entry, it is ace. 

Holding no decent suit, lead a nine-spot as 
a signal of distress. The nine is always a 
marked card : in a declared trump, it is 
always a singleton or a doubleton; and in no- 
trump, it means ''don't touch that suit." 
It couldn't be fourth-best, for, if it were, the 
three higher cards would all be honours, and 
your lead would be one of those honours — 
not the nine-spot. 

Holding no good suit and no nine-spot, lead 
the next-to-top card of a long weak suit. The 
rule of eleven will probably show your partner 
how poor your suit is, and keep him from re- 
turning it. 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE DISCARD 

When you can not follow suit, and do 
not trump in, you must discard. Your first 
discard should always give your partner 
information. 

Different players discard differently, and 
it is always necessary to ask a new partner 
how he discards. If he says, '*from weak- 
ness, " he means that his first discard is made 
from a suit that he doesn't want led to him. 
If he says, *'from strength,'' he means that 
it is made from the suit that he does want 
led to him. 

It is perfectly proper to use the discard 
from strength, the discard from weakness, or 
the odd-and-even discard (odd for strength, 
even for weakness), — if you like them. But 
the best and most up-to-date discard is that 
made by *' encouragement, '' and ''discourage- 
ment'' cards. If you play a seven, or higher, 
on the first round of a suit, you want that 

151 



152 Complete A-uction Player 

suit led to you. If you play under seven, you 
don't want it. 

All other discards can be used as discards 
only; encouragement and discouragement 
cards, on the contrary, can be used equally in 
following suit and in discarding. 

Suppose you are playing against a heart- 
declaration, and your partner leads the ace of 
clubs. He hasn't the king, for he would lead 
it if he had. It is within your power to tell 
him whether or not you hold that king ; and he 
will know, accordingly, whether to lead the 
suit again, in place of merely chancing it. If 
you play seven, or higher, on his ace, you 
say: ''I have the king; come on.'' If you 
play under seven, you deny the king, and 
he tries another suit. 

It sometimes happens, of course, that you 
lack the proper card for encouragement or 
discouragement. No system is absolutely 
perfect; this I think comes nearer to perfec- 
tion than any other, because it gives you a 
longer list of possible cards any of which will 
say what you mean; because it can be used 
in following as well as in discard ; and because 
it permits you degrees of insistence. The 
higher the card you discard, the more you 
want the suit. But it is rarely advisable 



TKe Discard 153 

to discard an honour as a first-round dis- 
card. 

In discarding, it sometimes happens that 
it is very hard to protect your hand. Don't 
try to protect everything. Suppose you have 
two barely-guarded queens, — that is, two 
queens with two small cards to guard each 
one of them. Don't throw away first a low 
card in one of the suits and then a low card 
in the other. In that way, you unguard both 
your queens, and lay them both open to the 
enemy. Discard in one of the suits only, and 
keep the other guarded. Discard right up 
to the one queen that you decide to throw 
to the dogs. Discard even that queen, her- 
self, if you must. Unguarded, she is no 
good, anyhow. But keep one of your suits 
well guarded, even if it is impossible to do 
more. 

While your discard must inform your 
adversary, as well as your partner, that 
doesn't matter. It is more important to talk 
to your partner than to mystify your adversary. 

But there are cases when you can, and 
should, avoid telling the adversary some- 
thing he particularly wants to know. 
Suppose an ace-queen suit lies exposed on the 
board, and the declarant (your adversary) 



154 Complete Axiction Player 

is anxious to place the king. Don't discard 
from that suit, either encouragement or dis- 
couragement. To do so would be to give 
your enemy the exact information he wants.. 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE ECHO. THE RULE OF ELEVEN. THE 
BATH COUP 

To play a higher card to a first round and 
a lower one to a second round is to echo. It is 
an unnatural process, and must therefore 
mean something. It means that you have 
but two cards of the suit. (It is also called 
*' playing down and out.'') 

This information is given to your partner, 
on his leads, — not to the adversary, on his 
leads. It is also given to your partner by 
your own leads. When you lead from a two- 
card suit, always lead the higher. 

On your own king-lead you should par- 
ticularly watch for an echo from your partner. 
If he plays a higher card on your king than 
on the second round of your suit, he holds 
but two cards in that suit. He is echoing. 

When your partner leads a king, look to 
see if you should echo. Holding but two 
cards in suit, play the higher one first. 

155 



156 Complete Aviction Player 

Don't, however, echo with an honour. It 
would mislead your partner and make him 
think it was a singleton. Suppose he leads 
the king (from ace-king) in a suit of which 
you hold the queen and one. Don't play 
your queen on his king. He would think it 
was a singleton and would next lead a low 
card for you to trump, so that he might still 
hold up the command of the suit by retaining 
his ace. 

Play your low card on your partner's king. 
Then play your queen on his ace. Immedi- 
ately he will know that you have no more. 

Except in cases of the honours, always 
play ''down and out, '' holding but two cards 
of the suit which your partner leads. Even 
in cases of the honours, always play ''down 
and out'' in suits which you, yourself, lead. 

The foregoing rules apply to declared 
trumps. 

Another signal that is too little understood 
is the one-card echo at no-trump. If the 
make be no-trump and your partner leads 
a small card, and if dummy plays a card that 
you cannot cover, you should play your next- 
to-highest card, so that your partner may read 
his suit. For instance, your partner leads a 
six of hearts from a combination headed by 



XHe EcKo and E\ile of Eleven 157 

the ace, the king, or both; dummy plays the 
queen and you hold jack-ten and two small. 
You must play your ten, not one of your 
small cards. Then your partner will know 
that you have one card higher than the ten; 
he will see the queen on the board, and the 
ace-king in his own hand, and he will immedi- 
ately credit you with the jack and be able 
to place all the high cards in his suit. This 
one-card echo in no-trump is invaluable; 
but it is so rarely found, even among good 
players, that when you come across a partner 
who uses it, you feel you have struck a 
veritable gold mine. 

The Rule of Eleven. 

When a spot -card is led, always deduct its 
face-value from eleven. The remainder will 
show how many cards of the same suit, higher 
than the one led, are held against the leader. 
This rule is the inevitable concomitant of the 
fourth-best lead. Let me illustrate : 

A player leads a six-spot of hearts. Im- 
mediately the declarant and the partner of 
the leader say to themselves : ' ^ six from eleven 
leaves five. There are five hearts, higher 
than a six-spot, held against that leader ^ 



158 Complete Aviction Player 

They both look at dummy and count how 
many hearts, {higher than a six-spot) are 
exposed there. Then each of them looks into 
his own hand and counts how many hearts, 
{higher than a six-spot) it holds. And then 
each of them knows how many the other 
holds; sometimes one of them knows that 
the other holds none at all. Should there be 
two on the board and three in his own hand, 
he would know that the other closed hand 
hadnt a heart higher than a six-spot. 

This rule is expressly for the declarant 
and the partner of the leader. The leader 
himself doesn't use it. He knows from the 
beginning how many cards are against him. 
Dummy doesn't use it. He couldn't. He 
can see but one hand, and he isn't playing, 
anyhow. But the other two players will find 
it very useful, and should never dispense 
with it. 

It is in no-trumps that it is preeminently 
valuable. There, the stock lead is always 
fourth-best. 

In declared trumps, public favour is 
wandering farther and farther away from a 
lead which is fourth-best from a single 
honour. Any other possible lead is preferred. 
But, quite frequently, the hand denies any 



TKe EcKo and R\ile of Eleven 159 

other lead, and the fourth-best lead is neces- 
sary. Then the Rule of Eleven immediately 
comes into play. And it will, moreover, 
always detect a short lead. If you see, in your 
own hand and on the board, a greater number 
of higher cards thafi the rule allows, you will 
know that a short lead, and not a fourth-best 
lead, has been made. 

// a player leads to his partner^ s hid, the 
rule cannot be applied. Then he is leading 
his highest, and not his fourth-best. 

But it is a good thing always to subtract 
from eleven the face-value of any spot- 
card that forms an opening lead, — unless 
it be led to the partner's bid. ^*Get the 
habit.'' 

The Bath Coup. 

Holding ace-jack and others of the suit 
led, and playing fourth to the trick, hold up 
both ace and jack, particularly if the king or 
queen he on the trick; also, particularly if the 
next lead will again come up to you. 



CHAPTER XV 

THE FINESSE 

To finesse is to take a chance. It is to risk 
the play of a lower card that may take the 
trick (though not certainly), when you also 
hold the high card which would certainly 
take it. It is an attempt to get a trick 
cheaply and still to hold up the command of 
the suit. 

The best-known finesse is that where the 
player holds ace-queen of a suit in one hand 
— either his own or dummy, — and where the 
king lies against him. He doesn't know where 
it is — whether tinder or over his ace-queen. 
If it be under, it can be killed; if over, it is 
bound to make. 

The player must never lead away from his 
ace-queen. He must get into the other hand 
and lead towards it. In this way the ace- 
queen lies in the third hand. 

If second hand plays the king, third hand 
1 60 



TKe Finesse i6l 

can kill It with the ace and still command the 
suit with the queen. 

If second hand holds the king, but doesn't 
play it, third hand must ** finesse" his queen, 
anyhow. 

If fourth hand holds the king, he will then 
kill the queen with it. But his king (if 
guarded) was bound to take anyhow, lying, 
as it did, on the safe side of the ace. Better 
let it make at once, and get it out of the 
way. 

Generally speaking, it is better to lose the 
first round of a suit than the second; it is 
better to lose the second than the third. It is 
less expensive and less dangerous to lose early 
than to lose late. 

This is not always true. There are cases 
where it is necessary to take all you can and 
then to ^Hhrow'' the balance of the tricks. 
This is called ''running to shelter.'' 

Particularly is this true when the adver- 
sary's suit is established against you. Then 
it is too late to finesse. 

''Never finesse with game in sight. " Land 
game first and then take your chances. 

Never finesse when the loss of the finesse 
would mean defeat in your bid and when 
(failing the finesse) the bid would be safe. 



l62 Complete Aviction Player 

Never finesse when playing your top card 
would definitely defeat an adverse bid. 

If you, as declarant, hold, between your 
two hands, the ace, the jack, and the queen 
(but lack the king), always get into the hand 
that doesn't hold the ace and finesse towards 
that ace. To lead away from it would be to 
establish the king wherever it lay. 

If you hold ace in one hand, king in the 
other, and jack in one or the other, your 
finesse (to catch the queen) may be taken 
either way: from the ace-hand to the king- 
hand or from the king-hand to the ace-hand. 
A good way, when possible, is to let the suit 
alone till you can force some adverse discards 
on another suit. The player who holds the 
queen you are after, will never discard from 
that suit. 

Never take a finesse on the first round that 
could be take7i on the second; never take one on 
the second that could be taken on the third. 
Defer every finesse as late as possible. For 
instance : 

You hold ace-king in one hand and jack in 
the other, and you want to catch the queen. 
Don't lead the jack towards the ace-king, 
on the first round. First lead your ace or 
king, — leaving the other. Then, with a side- 



XHe Finesse 163 

lead, get into your jack-hand. On the second 
round, finesse your jack towards your ace 
(or king). In this way you may sometimes 
catch a singleton or doubleton; also, by 
noticing the size of the spots which fall on the 
two rounds, you will get indications of posi- 
tion. The fall of high spots means there are 
no lower ones in the hand. 

A point that is often lost is this : 

The original leader leads a king from ace- 
king-jack. That is right, because he leads 
from two touching honours. But, on the 
second round, his remaining honours don't 
touch; they form a minor ten-ace. By leading 
out his ace, he may establish the queen 
against him. By letting the suit come up to 
him, from any other player^ he may be able to 
catch the queen by a jack-finesse. 

Nines and tens are the indicators as to the 
proper method of taking a finesse. Holding 
(in the two hands) the ace, the jack, and 
either the king or queen (but lacking the other 
of them), your object is to catch that missing 
honour by a fortunate finesse. Everyone 
knows enough to finesse from the low hand 
to the high. Not everyone knows the proper 
way to do it. 

Let us suppose that the jack lies in the 



164 Complete Auction Player 

dummy and the ace-queen in your own hand. 
Of course, you must never lead up to the 
jack; that would make the king a taker, no 
matter where he lay. You must get into the 
jack-hand by a side-lead, and lead up to your 
ace-queen. Holding, in either hand, the nine, 
the ten, or both, lead your jack towards your ace- 
giieen. Holding neither the nine nor the ten^ 
lead a low card towards your ace-queen, A 
concrete example will make this plain: 

9 J^3 



9 10 9 4 




^ K6 



^ AQ852 



The lead is with Y. It does not look as 
though A*s ten should ever take, with but 
two cards to guard it. Yet if Y's jack is led, 
A's ten will take. Y plays jack, B king, Z 
ace, and A four. Z has then to lead the ace; 
and, on the third round, A's ten is good. Did 
A hold one more small card, hoth his nine 
and ten would take. 

Let a small card be led from Y. B plays 
king, Z ace, and A the four. Z leads back to 



XHe Finesse 165 

the jack, and then to his own queen, — and 
Y 's ten never takes. 

Did Z hold the ten, nine, or both, in either 
of his hands, it would be impossible that 
they should take against him. He would then 
lead his jack towards his ace-queen. Re- 
member, then: 

Holding the nine, the ten, or both, finesse the 
jack towards the ace-queen. Holding neither 
nine nor ten, finesse a low card towards the ace- 
queen. 

The same rule holds when the queen lies in 
one hand and the ace- jack in the other. 

The nine and ten should also be guides to- 
wards the advisability of covering an honour 
with an honour. Seeing neither nine nor 
ten in your own hand nor on the board, 
cover an honour with an honour; you may 
establish the nine or the ten for your partner. 

Don't jeopardize your bid by a risky finesse ; 
land your bid first. 

It is too late to finesse when a suit is estab- 
lished against you. 

Don't finesse in a nine-card suit when you 
want to catch the queen. There are but four 
cards against you; three of them, including 
the queen, must lie together in order to 
protect her. The chances are that she is 



i66 Complete -AL\Jction Player 

unguarded. Do, however, finesse in a nine- 
card suit when you want the king; it takes 
but one card to guard him. 

Take every finesse as late as possible. 

It is too late to finesse when the adversaries' 
suit is established against you. 

When once you have lost control of the adver- 
saries' suit, land your hid first and do your 
finessing afterward. 

Finally, never finesse with game in sight. 



CHAPTER XVI 

UNBLOCKING 

*' Unblocking'' is making the shorthand 
get out of the way of its partner's long one. 
It is '* clearing the track. " 

Suppose the declarant holds a long suit 
between the two hands; dummy has four 
of the suit with the ace at the top; his own 
hand holds five of the suit with the king at 
the top. He should first lead up to dummy's 
ace, then back to his own king. This leaves 
him last, in the long hand — just where he 
wants to be. 

The general rule for unblocking is to play 
the high cards in the short hand. 

When playing against a no-trump make, 
it is very necessary not to block your partner, 
if he has a good suit. 

You remember that the lead in no-trumps 
is always the fourth-best card in your longest 
suit, unless (notice the exception) you hold 
a three-honour suit or a seven-card suit, 

167 



i68 Complete -Axjction Player 

in either of which cases you may lead high. 
With three honours you must lead high. With 
seven cards 3^ou may lead high, because you 
have a fair chance (with so many cards in 
your own hand), of catching an unguarded 
honour with one of your adversaries. It 
therefore follows that : 

If your partner leads high in no-trumps it 
is a sign of great strength or great length. 
In either case, your sole business is to get out 
of his way — not to take tricks. He can take 
the tricks; all he wants from you is informa- 
tion as to the cards you hold and decent 
unblocking — that is, throwing your high 
cards on his high cards. Then he will know 
where they are, and he can keep the lead. 

There is an exception to this. If you hold 
five cards of his suit, you may be longer than 
he is and may want to come in last. In that 
case, you play a middle card, reserving cards 
at both ends of your suit, so that you can 
either take the lead or get out of the way, as 
later developments may advise. 

Also, if dummy holds a guarded honour 
in your partner's suit (such as a jack), and 
you hold a guarded honour that would kill it 
(such as a queen), you naturally wouldn't 
throw your queen on your partner's king- 



UnblocKin^ 169 

lead, but would keep it to kill that jack. But, 
without that jack on the board, your un- 
doubted business is to throw your queen on 
your partner's king, unless you have five 
or more in his suit. 

If your partner leads a king, at no-trumps, 
he has either seven cards or three honours. 
From ace-king and four small, his lead is 
fourth-best. From ace-king and five small, 
his lead is king. Because, with so many 
cards, he may catch an unguarded honour 
from one of his opponents. 

Also, from ace-king-queen and one small, 
his lead will be king, although he has but four 
cards in suit. But he has three honours. The 
lead is from strength, not length. 

It follows, therefore, that when your 
partner leads a king against no-trumps, it 
may be from this : 

♦ A K J 2 
or from this : 

4k AK87542 

and you don't know which it is. 

If you hold the queen and one small, or 
queen and two small, you must throw your 
queen on his king. He will be greatly relieved 
to see it because it makes plain sailing for 



170 Complete A."uction Player 

him. Holding queen and three small, I still 
advise throwing the queen; but it is per- 
missible to play your next to top card, es- 
pecially if it be an "encouragement" card; 
your queen, however, must go on the third 
round. 

Holding queen and four small, you m.ay 
be longer than your partner. You must 
play your next-to-top card and then play doum. 
And if you hold five, and the top one is not a 
face-card, you must play your next'to-loiLXst 
card and then play up. 

Your partner leads the king of clubs, and 
you hold these : 

♦ Q s 7 4 i 

Your proper play is the eight ; to the second 
round you play the seven, and so on. If you 
find your partner is leading from a short 
three-honour suit (ace-king-jack-small), you 
must come into the lead on the fourth round 
in order to make your fifth card. If you find 
he is leading from a seven-card suit ( you can 
tell this by the discards of the adversaries), 
you must unblock and leave him in the lead. 

Again, your partner leads the king of clubs 
and you hold this : 

4^ 10 8 74 2 



UnblocKing 



171 



Your proper play is the four-spot on the 
first round, the seven on the second, and so on. 

With five to a face-card, play your next- 
to-top and then down. With five to a plain 
card, play your next-to-bottom and then up. 
This is for information to your partner. 

Let me make this clear with an illustration : 

A player led the king of clubs against a 
no-trump declaration. He held ace-king- 
jack-deuce, and he is **A" in the following 
diagram : 

The trick fell thus: 



4^ 75 



4I1 AKJ2 




4k 109843 



*Q6 



King (from leader), five-spot (from 
dummy), four-spot (from partner of leader), 
six-spot (from declarant). And the leader 
said to himself. '*The trey of clubs is not on 
that trick. The deuce I hold myself ; but the 
trey is the lowest card of some one else. If 
the declarant had it, he would naturally 
throw it on a trick that was already won. 



172 Complete Auction Player 

Dummy hasn't it. My partner must have 
it. Why did he play a four when he held the 
trey? Because he has five cards not headed 
by a face-card. That is nine between us. 
Dummy had two. The declarant's queen 
must fall on this second-round, and on the 
fourth round I'll put my partner in/' 

He was able to read the entire suit, and to 
unblock it, because of that one correct play 
of his partner. 



CHAPTER XVII 

SOME SUGGESTIONS 

Make it an invariable rule to lead ' ' through 
strength and up to weakness/' The bids 
will help you place the strength that you 
cannot see. 

Lead through strength, but not through a 
sequence. There is no object in it. The 
declarant can take with one of his sequence, 
and still command with his other. 

When you don't know whether or not to 
take a trick, ask yourself if you want the 
lead. If not, stay out; if so, come in. 

''Throwing the lead" is often the wisest 
thing you can do. It is the exceptional hand 
in which you can take all the tricks. 

Unless the cards in the two hands form a 
sequence, every suit should be led from the 
weak hand to the strong. 

As declarant, in a trump-make, don't let 
the adversaries make their little trumps. 
Exhaust them at once if you are able. With 

173 



174 Complete A-uction Player 

seven or more trumps in the two hands, you 
have the big half of thirteen. Exhaust your 
adversaries except in those cases where you 
can play your hands with a cross-ruff, or 
where you have a single-ruff in the weak hand. 
Don't be in a hurry to take a ruff in the 
strong (or long) hand. There is always time 
enough for that after the adverse trumps are 
gone. 

Conversely, as adversary, avoid giving the 
weak hand ruffs and the strong hand discards. 

Don't establish ruffs for the weak hand. 

Don't fail to lead trumps up to weakness. 
Many adversaries seem to think that no one 
but the declarant can lead trumps. This is a 
terrible error. If the declarant hesitates to 
lead trumps, let either adversary lead them 
at the first possible moment, — even that 
adversary who leads up to strength. If the 
declarant has a cross-ruff or a weak-hand ruff, 
let them follow the same plan — let them 
come in at any cost and lead trumps. And, 
in all cases, let that adversary lead trumps 
who leads up to weakness in dummy. If 
you are leading up to dummy and trumps 
are the weakest things in his hand, lead 
trumps. 

But in no case except ruffs, cross-ruffs, or 



Some S\J^^estions 



175 



trump-hesItation on the part of the declarant, 
should an adversary return his partner's 
trump-lead. The first adversary leads trumps 
to weakness; his partner would be leading 
them to strength. 

I will give you an example of establishing 
a ruff for the weak hand : 

4k J7432 
10876 



9 854 




Y 




9 A32 


♦ Q10 8 


A 




B 


4* k;65 


J432 








<> K95 


4 AK6 




Z 




4^ J 10 7 2 



<^ K Q J 10 6 
♦ A9 
' AQ 

4^ 8543 

Z was a preemptive bidder and opened 
with '*two hearts'' to show high honours and 
a desire to be let alone. 

A and B do not appear to have extremely 
strong hands, yet it rests with them whether, 
or not, Z shall make his bid. If they give the 
weak hand a ruff, Z has no trouble in making 
three-odd. If they kill the weak-hand ruff, 



176 Complete Aviction Player 

Z cannot possibly make two-odd; he cannot 
make one-odd unless he plays with extreme 
brilliancy. 

The actual A led, correctly, the king of 
spades. Then, seeing the queen lying alone 
on the board, he remarked: ''I think FU 
just pick up that lady,'' and led his ace. 
Not even then, did he lead trumps to kill 
dummy's ruff, because he ''didn't want to 
lead them up to strength. " Whether he led 
clubs, diamonds, or spades, Z's three-odd 
were safe. He would ruff his own two losing 
spades with dummy's weak trumps (thus 
giving two tricks to an otherwise trickless 
hand) ; he could finesse his diamonds properly 
from dummy to his own ace-queen; and he 
could have a lovely time generally. 

After A led his king of spades, he should 
have set about killing a possible weak-hand 
spade-ruff. He should have led trumps, even 
up to strength. B should have taken with 
the ace and returned the lead, because its 
object was so palpable. 

Played thus, Z cannot possibly take more 
than the odd. He cannot take that unless, 
on the first trump-round, he throws his ten 
(instead of his six) onto B's ace. If he does 
this, he can get into dummy with the nine- 



Some Svig^estions 177 

spot on the second trump-lead, and can 
finesse his diamonds properly instead of 
leading away from them. But in no way can 
he save his preemptive bid of two-odd. 

'* Beating the board'' is another useful 
lesson. To do it, you lead, or play, something 
that dummy cannot possibly take. 

In playing against the bid, avoid giving 
information to the adversary by your dis- 
card. If a ten-ace suit lies on the board, 
remember that he will watch discards in order 
to place the missing honour. Don't tell him 
what he wants to know. 

If an ace-queen suit lies exposed on your 
left, and you hold the king, he is in a bad 
position. If you hesitate to lead the suit, the 
declarant will spot your king and will lead 
through him. Whenever you have cards 
enough of the suit, lead through the ten-ace, 
to fool the declarant. You cannot fool your 
partner; he knows he hasn't the king. 

Don't lead * ' thirteeners " except at no- 
trumps. To do so in declared trumps, is to 
give the adversary a wonderful chance; he 
can ruff in one hand and discard a loser in 
the other. 

Don't lead up to a king-and-one ; you estab- 
lish him firmly for the first round or thesecond. 



178 Complete Aviction Player 

Lead through a king-and-one, whenever you 
have a chance. 

Lead through a ten-ace, but never up to 
one. To lead up to ace-queen, or king-jack, 
is to allow the declarant to get his trick as 
cheaply as possible. It is better to lead up to 
ace-king than ace-queen. 

**King ever, queen never.'' If the king- 
and-one are on the board and are led through, 
put up the king. If the queen-and-two be led 
through, keep your queen. 

In no-trumps, don't lead your suit up to a 
declared stopper that is not the ace. 

Avoid a deuce-lead against no-trumps. It 
tells too much. It shows at once that your 
suit is but four cards long. Holding two 
four-card suits, one running from king to 
deuce and the other from king to trey, — 
always choose the latter for a blind lead. 

If your partner leads in no-trump and you 
hold but two cards of his suit, and if the Rule 
of Eleven shows that the adversary on your 
left (the declarant) holds but one card higher 
than the one led, always play the higher card of 
your two to the first trick. This, to unblock. 

When each side has been bidding a suit 
very high, it is probable that each is bidding on 
a shortage of the other's suit. Remember this 



Some Sxiggestions 179 

when you lead. Make some eccentric lead 
rather than lead your long suit. It will often 
enable you to defeat the bid before the 
declarant gets in. He is counting on an 
immediate ruff of your suit. 

Remember the difference between making 
the adversary *'come to you'' on the last 
two rounds, or of *' going to him,'' on those 
same rounds. Suppose you hold ace-jack 
and he holds queen-ten. If he leads, you 
make both rounds ; if you lead, you lose one. 
In other words, in order to take the twelfth 
and thirteenth tricks, it is often necessary to 
throw the lead to the adversary on the eleventh 
trick. The tenth is too soon, — he will throw 
it back to you on the eleventh, and you will 
'*go to him," on the twelfth and thirteenth. 
Anything after the eleventh is too late. This 
fact is so important that a great English 
authority has called the eleventh trick the 
*^pivot" trick. Don't 'Hhrow the lead" 
senselessly. Wait and throw it, with a 
purpose, on the eleventh trick. Hold up your 
coup until then. Throw the lead when there are 
exactly three cards in your hand! 

Some time ago I was playing a big heart 
hand. It offered opportunities for a tre- 
mendous cross-ruff and, naturally, I seized 



i8o Complete Aiaction Player 

them. Trumps had never been drawn at all; 
I had been ruffing diamonds in my own hand 
and spades in dummy. I had originally held 
five trumps, headed by the ace, queen, and 
jack, and dummy had held four little ones, 
all of which had taken tricks by ruffing the 
losing spades. At the opening of the eleventh 
round the cards lay thus: 

9 — 

4^ 10 8 
O 9 
♦ — 



<;;? K 98 




Y 




^ 10 


* 


A 




B 


JkQ 


— 








OJ 


♦ ~ 




Z 




♦ - 



^ AQ 
* — 

— 

4 10 



The ten of spades was high in my hand, as 
I had ''ruffed out'* the suit. The lead was in 
my own hand. 

I had no idea of the position of the four 
adverse trumps. As it happened A had more 
trumps left than I. He also held a perfectly 



Some S\i^^estions i8i 

protected king of trumps on the safe side of 
my ace-queen. And that king never took — 
thanks to a misplay of B's. 

I led my ten of spades, A trumped per- 
force, and dummy and B both trashed. A, 
being in the lead (on the twelfth round), was 
forced to come up to me, and I caught his 
king. 

As soon as the hand was over, I said to B : 
*'0h, you should have overtaken your part- 
ner's trick; you should have played your ten 
of trumps over his eight.'' And he said: 
''No, that would have done no good; I had 
no more trumps to lead through you." 

Then we showed him that it mattered not 
what he led through me, just so he led through 
me. If his partner played after me, on that 
next trick, he made his king; if I played 
after him, he lost it. 

Then B said: ''How was I to know all 
this ? " And I said : " By the mere fact that I 
voluntarily threw the lead on the eleventh 
trick. Had I held established trumps I 
should have led them out. The fact that I 
threw the lead on the pivot trick showed 
plainly that I wanted to play last on the 
next trick; that is, that I wanted the twelfth 
round to come up to me. It was your business 



l82 Complete Aiaction Player 

to see that it didn't, and to put it through 
me." 

From this principle it follows that as a 
hand nears its end, it is safest to take the 
even rounds and to lose the odd ones. Lose 
the eleventh, take the twelfth. Carrying it a 
trick farther back, it means: Lose the ninth, 
take the tenth. If you go too far back it is 
useless; but as a hand nears its end, if you 
don't know when to come in and when to 
stay out, count the cards in your hand. 
Come in when you hold an even number. 
Stay out (or throw the lead) when you hold 
an uneven number. 

Suppose you hold just one trump, the 
thirteenth, and the adversaries are in the lead 
and are forcing you with a suit of which they 
hold all the commanding cards. You don't 
know when to come in or when to give them 
their tricks. All other things being even, no 
other signs being forthcoming, come in when 
you are holding an even number of cards. 

The ''pivot" tricks are generally the fifth 
and the eleventh. The fifth to take, the 
eleventh to throw. 

Again, suppose while the hand is young, 
you (as declarant) find yourself with a six- 
card suit, — three to the jack in one hand, and 



Some S\i^gestions 



183 



three to the ace-queen in the other, — or 
reversing the positions of the jack and queen, 
thus: 

4» Q83 




4i AJ7 

To lead that queen towards the ace-jack 
would be to invite a certain third-round loss. 
Lead a low card from Y, and finesse your jack. 
If the finesse goes, the king is marked with B. 
Drop that suit entirely, play your other suits, 
and retain a sure loser till the eleventh round, a 
loser that you know will throw the lead to B. 
Throw him in on the eleventh round. He will 
then be holding the king and one small club 
while you hold queen-small in one hand and 
ace-small in the other. He must lead and, 
whatever he leads, you take both rounds. 

Did you make the twelfth lead, his king 
would take, inevitably. 

The rule ' ' cover an honour with an honour '' 
is a good one generally. Its observance will 
often establish a jack or a ten-spot for your 
partner. But it has its exceptions. When 



184 Complete -A.-uction Player 

that jack or ten lies on the board in plain 
sight, when you are palpably establishing it 
for the declarant's ease of mind, don't ''cover 
an honour with an honour. '' To do so would 
be too obliging. 

Similarly when you hold a riiore-than- 
adequately-guarded honour, when it is ob- 
vious that it cannot be led through often 
enough to capture it, don't put it on the 
honour that is led through it. Don't cover. 

When I remember how glad I am to get 
those adverse honours out of the way by 
tempting my adversaries to ' ' cover an honour 
with an honour," I am sure that it cannot 
always be a good thing for my adversary to 
do it. What I want should certainly not be 
what he ought to do. 

When you want high cards to Jail, lead high 
cards, A good way to get an adverse ace out 
of the way, is to lead a king or queen. They 
will often prove irresistible. 

Conversely, don't give up control of the 
adversary's suit until you have to. Hold it up 
as long as possible. 

Try to think of penalties as well as of 
points. Try to stop bidding when you have a 
chance to defeat. As soon as the bid gets to 
two, in anything, look to see whether you can 



Some Siag^estions 185 

beat it, before you over-bid it. If the other 
side bids in the only suit that you can defeat, 
• — pass! Don't double and give them a 
chance to shift; don't over-call and give them 
a chance to beat you. Just pass. If they 
make a bid that you are sure of defeating, 
and if the bid is so high, or your hand has 
such general strength, that you can defeat 
any other bid they make, then double. 
That is your great chance. 

Let the declarant remember to false-card 
constantly. Let him mix immaterial low 
cards habitually. This will puzzle and ham- 
per the adversary. But let no one attempt to 
false-card when playing against the bid ; such 
false-carding would deceive the partner of 
the player who attempted it. The declaranty 
having no partner to deceive, is the only player 
who can afford to false-card. 

The play of any card in third hand denies 
the card immediately under it. To play an 
ace is to deny the king; to play the jack is to 
deny the ten. Your partner will immediately 
believe that you do not hold that king, or that 
ten, and will credit the declarant with them. 

Never waste a point. Take every trick as 
cheaply as possible. 

But, as declarant, try to misinform your 



l86 Complete A-uction Player 

adversaries. Holding both ace and king, 
take with your ace in order to make each 
adversary think that his partner may have 
the king. 

Always take with the lowest of a sequence and 
lead the highest. The only exception is from 
ace-king and others. Your lead then is king, 
not ace. 

When your partner makes the original lead 
against no-trumps and you take the tricky 
always return immediately your highest card 
of the suit he led. Don't be deterred by the 
fact that the ace of the suit lies on the board. 
That ace has to take, and it is your duty to 
help your partner clear his suit. There are 
only a few cases where you break this rule 
of return lead. One is when dummy shows 
such appalling strength in the suit that your 
partner's lead is marked as forced, or poor, 
or illegitimate. Another is when dummy 
holds the ace-queen and your partner's lead 
is marked as being fourth best from the king; 
a return lead would kill his king. Another is 
any other similar fourchette in dummy over 
a single honour held by your partner. And 
still another is the case where your partner 
has not led the suit in which he has bid, but 
has led a side-suit with the obvious desire to 



Some Sxiggestions 187 

put you in, if possible, so that you may give 
him his suit through the declarant's stopper. 
In this last case, never fail to lead your highest 
card of your partner's suit. 

When your partner leads against a declared 
trump, and you take the trick, do not return 
the suit immediately, unless you have no 
more of the suit and can ruff the third round ; 
or unless you have so many that he must have 
led short. Show your own suit first, except in 
these two cases. If you have no suit, lead up 
to dummy's weakness. When you come in 
later, return your partner's suit and return 
your highest. 

An original lead of a nine-spot is always 
marked. Against declared trumps it is 
invariably short (singleton or top of two). 
Against no-trump, it is a signal of distress. 
It says: ''Don't touch this suit unless for 
purposes of your own. I haven't a lead in 
my hand." 

An eight-spot is invariably a short lead 
against declared trumps, but may be fourth- 
best against no-trumps. 

Many excellent players will never lead 
short when holding fewer than four small 
trumps. 

When leading through dummy, seize every 



1 88 Complete -A.iaction Player 

opportunity to *'lead through a guarded 
honour/' or through a *'hole'' (that is, two 
honours that do not touch). Your partner 
may have the honour that fills this **hole. '' 



CHAPTER XVIII 

LEADING UP TO A DECLARED STOPPER. A 
MOOTED POINT 

When playing against a no-trump declara- 
tion, I do not believe in leading up to a 
declared stopper that is not the ace. It is, 
however, a case where authorities differ. 

If a stopper lies over the bid, it is bound to 
make and may as well do it first as last. But if 
it lies under the bid, it should always be led 
through, never up to. If the stopper happens 
to be the ace, it has to take no matter where 
it lies, and you need not bother to try to lead 
through it. The sooner you clear your suit 
the better. Let me give you one illustration 
of leading through a declared stopper, instead 
of up to it : 
{Discarding to unblock; and allowing a suit to 

come to you through a declared stopper:) 



I go Complete Axiction Player 





9k 

4kA643 

4 10 9 8 7 6 S" 


9QJ3 

♦ 52 

<C> AQJ965 

♦ Z4 


Y 

A B 

Z 


^ 10 8 7 6 4 

4k987 

Ol083 




9a952 
4k K Q J 10 
0K7 
4a52 





This is one of the subtlest of hands — 
especially for A. 

Z bids *'a no-trump''; A 'Hwo diamonds"; 
Y and B pass. Z's diamond stopper is very 
light, lying, as it does, under the diamond bid; 
on the other side, it would be perfectly safe. 
However, he says ''two no-trumps." And 
every one else passes. 

Now it lies entirely with A, whether or not 
this bid shall go through. As the hand was 
played, A insisted on leading his diamonds 
(against expert advice). He led his ace, then 
his queen, to clear the suit, insisting that he 
had reentry in both spades and hearts, and 
would make his diamonds later. And he did ; 



j\ Declared Stopper 191 

but it was so much later, that Z had made 
what he bid. 

For the hand hinges entirely on Z's taking, 
or not taking, with the king of diamonds. He 
has exactly eight tricks in the two hands, 
allowing one for the diamond king, — four 
club tricks, two heart tricks, the ace of spades, 
and the king of diamonds. Failing one of 
those tricks, the bid will not go through. 
'■ Always remember that ''if a stopper lies 
under the bid, and is not the ace, it should be 
led through — never up to. " Z's bid of ''two 
no-trumps'' declares a diamond stopper; 
from A's hand, that stopper is shown to be the 
king — and the king in a very perilous posi- 
tion. It should be A's sole care to throw B in, 
that he may lead the diamonds through Z; 
and it should be Z's sole care to keep B from 
taking a single trick. He does not care how 
many tricks A takes, for A will have to lead 
up to him ; but he simply cannot afford to let 
B in, to lead the diamonds through his king. 

A should lead ' ' the highest of his own weak- 
est suif — the five of clubs. Z takes this with 
dummy's ace, so that he may lead his long 
suit (spades) through B. If he should lead 
spades from his own hand up to dummy's 
ten, B might come in with the jack, the queen. 



192 Complete Axiction Player 

or the king (if he held them), and lead dia- 
monds through Z — and then the fat would be 
in the fire. 

So the first club round goes to Y's ace. Y 
leads the 6 of spades, B plays the jack, and Z 
the ace; and (here comes the crux) A must 
throw his king on that ace! For had Z held the 
queen of spades, he would certainly have 
finessed it, not being afraid to let A in. As 
Z doesn't hold it, B must; therefore A must 
throw away his king, in order to unblock and 
give B a spade-reentry. If A comes in on 
hearts, he must lead his four of spades ; B will 
take with the queen and lead his ten of 
diamonds, and their object will be accom- 
plished. 

Should Z elect to open hearts instead of 
spades, A must follow the same principle — • 
he must keep a small one to try to throw his 
partner in. A has two objects — to get out 
of B's way in every suit but diamonds, and 
never to take a trick until the diamonds are 
led to him from one of the other three hands. 
It would be very unusual for Z to make his 
hearts before he took a try at his long spades. 
But suppose he should! He can still be 
defeated. 

When Z takes the first club-round with 



A Declared Stopper 193 

dummy's ace, he may lead his king of hearts. 
Then A must throw his jack. Z will then get 
into his own hand with the clubs and make all 
the clubs he holds. If he next leads the ace of 
hearts, let A be sure to throw his queen to try to 
unblock hearts for B's reentry. He knows 
that B must hold some suit with more than 
three cards in it. It has been shown that B's 
length is not in clubs; A's hand will prove 
that B's suit is not diamonds; dummy's 
long line of spades will make it improbable 
that B holds many of them, — and hearts 
are thus marked as a long weak suit in B's 
hand. 

Thus, If A opens the diamonds, Z wins out. 
If he allows the diamonds to come to him, 
Z is defeated. Never forget that if a stop- 
per lies under the bid, and is not the ace, 
you should never lead up to it, but always 
through it. 

Of course, in many hands the situation 
would not be so ideal for A; Z's king of 
diamonds, for instance, might be better 
guarded; or B might not have so many 
diamonds with which to lead through the 
stopper. But even so, A loses nothing by 
letting the diamonds come up to him. I have 
seen hundreds of hands played and I have 
13 



194 Complete -A.\Jction Player 

never seen one where a point was lost hy waiting 
to have a stopper led through; and in an over- 
whelming majority of cases much has been 
gained by the method! 



CHAPTER XIX 



HINTS 



Don't try to play all the hands; often use a 
strong hand to defeat the bid. 

Try to score penalties on the adversary in 
the beginning of a rubber, and to secure the 
play of the hands at the end. 

Try not to let the adversary get the bid at 
one, in any high suit ; hut: 

Remember that a ''forcing bid'' doesn't 
always force; you may be left with it on your 
hands. 

Remember that a ''short sure rubber'' 
(where there are no penalties) is always a low 
rubber. 

Never make a risky bid, unless to go game 
or to save game. 

To double a person gives him a chance to 
change his bid ; therefore : 

Never double unless you are prepared to 
double again, no matter where the adversary 
jumps. 

195 



196 Complete A.\iction Player 

When you want to make a high bid, count 
what you dare lose ; when you want to double 
a high bid, count what you can take. 

Double in preference to bidding; let the 
other side work for you. 

A bad double is worse than a bad bid. The 
adversary cannot go game or rubber on your 
bid, no matter how poor it is. He can go 
game on your double. 

Unless the bid would put you game, be 
content to yield it to the adversary, unless 
the bid will put him game; in that case, 
take it away even at a risk. If it would 
put him rubber, take it away even at a cer- 
tain loss. 

It is worth at least one or two tricks to have 
the play of the hand. If you have a no-trump 
hand and the adversary bids ''a no-trump,'* 
force him to two if possible (by a bid in a side- 
suit). If you cannot do this, it is better to 
take the bid yourself at ''two no-trumps'* 
than to double his one. Of course, if you have 
the lead and hold an established suit of seven 
or more cards, it is better to double him. 

A shaky hand is safer as a declared trump 
than as a no-trump. 

The player's first care is to make what he 
bid; the adversaries' first care is to defeat 



Hints 197 

the bid. Do your finessing after this is 
accomplished. 

Keep a keen eye on the score. 

Be a reliable partner and don't give false 
information. That is better than mystifying 
the adversary. 

Understand every ''school" of play 

Be careful not to bid any suit unless you 
hold ace or king. 

Never bid on a jack-suit, or a ten-suit, on 
the first round. Auction is a game of strength 
rather than length — a game of aces and kings. 

Never raise your partner's bid on trumps 
alone; you should have some side protection, a 
short suit, or a ruff. 

If you hold a poor hand, one that must lose, 
lose on your adversary's declaration rather 
than on your own ; it is much less expensive, 
unless his declaration would put him rubber. 
In that case, declare on your own hand. 

Almost any rule can be broken in a critical 
situation, if you know you are breaking it and 
If the occasion demands it. If there be one 
iron rule, it is: 

Never bid no-trumps unless you stop the 
adversary's suit. 

Remember that you should save game by 
your play, and rubber by your bid. 



198 Complete Aiaction Player 

Pay strict attention to all bids. 

It is said that *'no one but a fool bids three 
in any suit when sitting between two no- 
trumpers. '' 

It is also said that ''ten thousand children 
are going barefoot in the streets of London 
because women are afraid to lead trumps." 

''Three hearts," "three spades," "four 
diamonds, " and "four clubs" are not bids to 
be lightly doubled on a clean score. 

Rarely bid on trumps alone. 

Never raise on trumps alone. 

Never double on trumps alone. 

A frequent doubler is invariably a weak 
player« 

There are no "rescue bids. " Forget them! 
To do so will go far toward completing your 
Auction education. 

Don't tell whose lead it is. You have no 
right to do so. 

Be quick to penalize yourself and slow to 
penalize the other man. Be a sport ! 

There is always something to learn in 
Auction. Let no one think he "knows it all." 
The most self-satisfied player I know always 
makes the mistake of leading away from an 
ace. 

To sit and ponder over your opening-lead 



Hints 199 

is to invite curses. If you don't know your 
leads, learn them or stop playing. 

If the other fellow wants to beat himself, 
never interfere with his plans. 
^ When you get the bid, you score in bunches 
of six, seven, eight, nine, or ten. When you 
beat the bid, you score in bunches of 50 or 100. 
Would you rather work like a slave for ten 
cents, or have some one hand you a dollar? 

It is never very profitable to ''save game*' 
at a cost of 200 points, or to ''save rubber" 
at a cost of 600. 

When you want to bid high, you count what 
you haven't] when you want to double, you 
count what you have. 

To double a high bid, it is not necessary to 
hold many trumps. It is necessary only that 
you and your partner, together, shall hold one 
more trick than your book. 

Singletons and missing-suits are dread 
things in no-trump, but tremendous assets 
in a declared trump. 

If you hold but four trumps in the strong 
hand, singletons and missing-suits lose their 
value. You are too short to take ruffs. 

If the adversaries show any signs of trying 
to establish a ruff, or a cross-ruff, get In at any 
cost and lead trumps, even up to strength. 



200 Complete Aiaction Player 

The lower the suit on which you bid, the 
more expensive your declaration. 

If the bid suits you, it is wise to say nothing. 
Courtesy and calmness are necessary ad- 
juncts of a really great game. Unasked 
criticism is intensely poor form. 



CHAPTER XX 
don'ts 

Don't overbid. 

Don't double bids of one. 

Don't double anything unless you can 
double everything. 

Don't talk while the bidding is in progress. 

Don't be too explanatory at the close of a 
hand. 

Don't open with bids of two. 

Don't bid no-trump unless you stop the 
adversary's suit. 

Don't establish ruffs for the weak hand. 

Don't lead thirteeners, except at no-trump. 
You will give the player a chance to trump in 
his weak hand and to discard a losing card 
from his strong one. 

Don't forget that there are eighteen 
*' points" in every suit. 

Don't make any bid that is In excess of 
what is absolutely necessary. 

If you have played badly don't lay it to the 

20I 



202 Complete A-uction Player 

light, the heat, the conversation, etc. Every 
one has been at the same disadvantage, and 
every one has *'off'' days. 

Don't ask back bids, or face quitted tricks. 

Don't give the weak hand ruffs or the 
strong hand discards. 

Don't forget that game-in-the-hand is 
very valuable. 

Don't despise points that are ''above the 
line." Don't overestimate the importance 
of that cross line on the score-card. One 
hundred is ten times as much as ten, no 
matter where you write it. 

Don't be a disgruntled loser nor an elated 
winner. 

Don't congratulate yourself too heartily 
on having kept the adversary from playing 
the hand when it has cost you 600 points to 
do it. 

Don't excuse your poor game by saying: 
"Well, I think I win as often as any of them." 
That is not the point; the point is to use 
your cards to their utmost possible advantage. 



CHAPTER XXI 

THE REVOKE 

In the first place, let me urge my readers 
never to claim a revoke until the close of a 
hand. The failure to wait till the proper time 
to claim a revoke is almost the commonest 
fault in Auction. The hand is interrupted, 
discussion ensues, there is conversation as 
to what must be done, thought-chains are 
broken, and everything is in confusion. 

Wait till the close of the hand; then, before 
the score is entered, claim any revoke or 
revokes that may have been made. If the 
claim be denied, the tricks may be taken up 
one-by-one and searched until the claim is 
proved or disproved. 

If the declarant revoke, the adversaries 

may take loo points above the line for the 

first revoke, and an additional lOO points 

above the line for each subsequent revoke. 

The adversaries, of course, can never score 

anywhere except above the line. 

203 



204 Complete Auction Player 

Dummy cannot revoke. It is every one's 
business to watch him. 

If either adversary revoke, the declarant 
may choose between loo points above the 
line or three tricks taken from the adversaries 
and added to his own. These tricks may 
assist him to make good his declaration and 
to score game or rubber. They cannot en- 
title him to a slam not otherwise obtained, 
nor to any bonus. 

In the case of doubling or redoubling, the 
tricks taken on a revoke-penalty are worth 
precisely the same as all other tricks in the 
hand; that is, they are worth twice or four 
times their normal value below the line. 

If the adversaries revoke more than once 
during a hand, each revoke after the first is 
worth 100 points above the line to the 
declarant and his partner. 

Dummy is permitted to call attention to a 
revoke, provided he has not looked volun- 
tarily into any hand other than his own. 
Either he or the declarant may choose the 
penalty, but not both of them, and there 
shall positively be no consultation between 
them on the subject. 

A revoke is established when a trick is 
turned and ''quitted'' (that is, when the 



TKe Revoke 205 

fingers are off it) , or when either the revoking 
party or his partner leads or plays to the 
following trick, whether in turn or otherwise. 
For instance, when a trick is turned and 
quitted, a revoke is established and may not 
be rectified. Also, even if the trick be left 
lying ungathered on the table and the re- 
voking player or his partner throw down a 
card to the following trick, the revoke is 
again established by that act. Prior to the 
establishment of a revoke, it may be corrected 
without penalty. 

The revoking side may score nothing on 
the hand, except for any honours they may 
chance to hold. No matter how many tricks 
they may have taken, they can score nothing 
if they have revoked. 

A revoke may often be prevented by the 
partner of that player who is on the edge of 
making it. The first time any player refuses 
a suit he should say *'no hearts'' or '*no 
clubs'' — or no whatever the suit may be — as 
he makes his discard to the trick. If he 
neglects to do this, his partner should immedi- 
ately ask ''No hearts, partner?" or *'No 
clubs?" or no what-not? This is to call 
attention to the fact that suit is not being 
followed and to prevent a careless revoke by 



2o6 Complete -A.\iction Player 

a player whose wits may be wool-gathering. 
If this question be asked before the trick is 
turned and quitted, subsequent turning and 
quitting does not establish the revoke unless 
in the meantime the player questioned has 
definitely answered in the negative, or unless 
he or his partner has led or played to the 
following trick. 

Law 87 reads: ''At the end of the play 
the claimants of a revoke may search all the 
tricks. If the cards have been mixed the 
claim may be urged and proved if possible; 
but no proof is necessary and the claim is 
established if, after it is made, the accused 
player or his partner mixes the cards before 
they have been sufficiently examined by the 
adversaries." 

Law 88: ''A revoke cannot be claimed 
after the cards have been cut for the following 
deal. " 

Law 89: ''Should both sides revoke, the 
only score permitted is for honours. In such 
case, if one side revoke more than once, the 
penalty of 100 points for each extra revoke is 
scored by the other side." 



CHAPTER XXII 

PENALTIES 

From time to time the question of penalties 
or non-penalties raises itself and stares us in 
the face. Players are very much divided on 
this head; even excellent players are not 
always entirely sportsmanlike on the subject. 

Whatever game a person goes in for, his 
first aim should be to take it up in the true 
sporting spirit. The object of a game is to 
reward skill and punish or penalize want of 
skill, and carelessness; add to this the element 
of chance in a greater or less degree, the rules 
and implements of the particular game in 
question, and your game stands made. 

No one questions most of these facts; no 
one tries to play a game without the proper 
implements, and without a certain knowledge 
of its rules. No one plays a game without 
failing to take advantage of any skill he may 
possess. Why, then, should anyone wish to 
evade the only remaining condition? Why 
^207 



2o8 Complete Auiction Player 

should he object to taking his punishment 
for ignorance or carelessness? 

What would you think of a golf player who 
wanted to be allowed to lift his ball out of 
every difficult *'lie, " or a tennis player who 
wanted to ''take it over again" every time he 
missed a ball, or any player of any game who 
turned sulky over consequences that he had 
brought on his own head? 

Auction should be approached in precisely 
the same sporting spirit which one shows at 
other games. Penalize yourself promptly and 
cheerfully — don't wait to be dragged to it by 
the adversary ; if you expose a card from your 
hand, or drop one on the table, lay that card 
immediately — face up — on the table, subject 
to call. Never dream of grabbing it up and 
returning it to your hand, and of wrangling 
over the adversary's right to call it. And 
when you have placed it on the table and the 
adversary has called it to his own advantage, 
play it cheerfully and graciously. Don't be 
ill-tempered over it, and please don't say, 
''I was just going to play that, anyhow — • 
so it doesn't hurt me any!" Oh, if you knew 
the difference that all these things make in a 
game, you 'would never have to be twice 
urged to be sportsmanlike! 



Penalties 209 

You were clumsy when you dropped that 
card; take the penalty for your clumsiness 
as naturally as you would if you were running 
a race or skating on ice; there, if you are 
clumsy, you fall. Here, too, you fall — by 
having your card made subject to your 
adversary's pleasure. 

When I play for the first time with new ac- 
quaintances it doesn't take me three minutes 
to rate their game. There are good players, 
indifferent players, and poor players — but 
there are infinitely more classes than that. 
There are good players whom I never want 
to see again; they are grumpy, over-eager to 
exact penalties from others, and exceedingly 
loath to pay up their own. And there are 
indifferent, and even poor, players with 
whom I am willing and glad to have other 
games. They are eager to improve, intelli- 
gent and quick at taking hints, gracious in 
giving penalties, and very slow in exacting 
them. 

And there is another odd point: The 
player who is quickest about penalizing 
himself is usually slowest about exacting 
penalties from unwilling adversaries. And 
the player who watches, lynx-eyed, for 
chances to penalize his adversary is nearly 



2IO Complete Axiction Player 

always excessively ill-tempered when the 
tables are turned on him. 

I am going to run over the principal 
penalties of the game, in order that you may 
be, not only willing to *'pay up'' when your 
time comes, but intelligently posted as to 
whether it has come. 

The first and greatest is, of course, the 
penalty for the revoke. No one, I think, 
questions this or seeks to evade it. It has 
already been described in the chapter on the 
revoke. 

The lead from the wrong hand by the 
declarant is no longer generally penalized, 
though many of us think it should be, in order 
to prevent both carelessness and wilful 
cheating. However, if the declarant lead from 
the wrong hand, he is 7iot at liberty to correct 
his error unless directed to do so hy one of the 
adversaries. 

The lead out of turn, by either adversary, 
is always punishable. If it be the opening 
lead, the declarant has his choice of tivo 
penalties. He may treat the card led in error 
as an exposed card (laid on the table and 
subject to his call), or he may call any suit he 
pleases from the proper leader. When he 
does this, the card led in error is not an 



Penalties 211 

exposed card. It may be returned to the 
hand of its owner. 

When a suit is called by the declarant and 
the adversary has none of that suit, the 
penalty is paid. The information is as 
valuable as the lead. 

I wish this penalty for an erroneous open- 
ing lead were always enforced. If it were, the 
game would soon be greatly improved. No 
good players would be caught many times 
in this trap, and the result would be very 
gratifying. Nothing is so amateurish as a 
game in which, at the close of the bidding of 
every hand, some one asks, or some one tells^ 
whose lead it is. // any one at a table knows 
whose lead it is, everyone should know / No one 
should ask where the lead is, and no one 
should tell. *'It is your lead,'' should be a 
proscribed phrase in Auction. At the close 
of the bidding, all the players should sit 
silent until some one leads ; if it is the proper 
leader, well and good. If not, the Player 
should call any suit he wants, from the real 
leader. It will not take many such experi- 
ences to cure players of this tiresome fault. 

If any player bid or double out of turn, 
either adversary may call for a new deal. 

If a player make a bid, insufficient to cover 



212 Complete Eviction Player 

the previous bid, he is forced to bid enough to 
cover it, by bidding in the suit he has named. 
And if the following adversary pass, the 
partner of the faulty bidder is debarred from 
bidding. If, however, the adversary bid or 
double, the partner of the faulty bidder is 
free to do as he likes. 

If, near the close of a hand, one player shall 
be found to be short one or more cards, 
while all the other hands are correct, the 
short hand shall be responsible for revokes 
in not following to the suits led. 

If one hand be too short, and another too 
long, it is an obvious misdeal. There is no 
penalty and no score on the hand. No 
matter who has won, the hand is counted out 
and there is a new deal by the same dealer. 

Exposed cards are subject to penalties 
and will be treated separately in the next 
chapter. 

In cutting, if two or more cards be cut, the 
highest must be taken. 

In dealing, if a card be exposed, the dealer 
must deal again. This must also happen if he 
make a misdeal. 

If any player look at a card during the deal 
the adversaries may take 25 points. 

If any dealer deal with uncut cards, with 



ena 



hies 213 



the adversaries' pack, or out of turn, it may 
be corrected before the last card is dealt by 
either adversary who has not looked at his 
cards. 

If any card be exposed during the bidding, 
the partner of its holder cannot bid, cannot 
lead that suit, and the card can be called. 

An ''inadvertent'' declaration must stand 
unless altered before the next player acts. 
The ruling should be that it must always 
stand. Too much information can be given 
by seemingly ' ' inadvertent ' ' declarations, 
and too much liberty is allowed to changes of 
mind. 

The player who turns and examines a 
quitted trick can be penalized 25 points by 
the adversaries. 

The penalty for leading before the bid is 
completed is exceptionally severe. 

If a player lead before the bidding is 
complete : 

First. His partner may not thereafter bid 
or double during that declaration. 

Second. The card led is an exposed card 
and is subject to call, if either adversary 
becomes the final declarant. 

Third. When the partner of the offending 
player is the original leader, the declarant 



214 Complete Axiction Player 

may prohibit an initial lead of the suit of the 
exposed card. 

The first penalty is fair and necessary. 
A tricky player might make a lead before 
the close of the bidding in order to influence 
his partner. He might pretend to think the 
bidding was closed and might expose an ace 
or king. That would make a material differ- 
ence in his partner's subsequent feeling about 
the hand. 

But it seems to me the ground would be 
sufficiently covered by debarring the partner 
from any further bidding or doubling during 
the hand. That is proper and that, I think, 
is sufficient. The adversaries have also had 
the benefit of seeing the card led in error and 
of bidding or passing accordingly. And there 
seems to be no reason for inflicting three 
penalties for one fault. In other cases, there is 
often a choice of penalties. A fault may be 
punished so, or so, but not so, and so. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

EXPOSED CARDS 

A CARD is ''exposed '' when its face is shown 
on, or above, the level of the table. But not 
all four players at a table suffer similarly for 
exposing a card. The declarant, for instance, 
is absolutely immune from punishment, for 
the reason that he has no partner to be ad- 
vantaged by seeing his cards; and dummy, 
of course, is always exposed. It is the two 
persons who are playing against the deal who 
must be abnormally careful about showing 
cards. 

If the declarant shows a card it is supposed 
to give information to two adversaries and to 
no partner — for the reason that the declar- 
ant's partner is dummy ('*le mort," or ''the 
dead man, '' as the French call him) ; therefore 
the declarant suffers no further punishment 
than the fact that he has been foolish enough 
to let both his adversaries see his card, and to 
put them in the position where they can play 

215 



2i6 Complete A.\iction Player 

accordingly. Xo card that the declarant 
exposes can be ''called''; the only card that 
he can be forced to play from his own hand 
is one which he has voluntarily ''quitted" 
(that is, from which he has voluntarily 
removed his fingers). He can throw his 
entire hand, face-up, on the table and play it 
from that position — if he is fool enough to 
want to do so. 

And, what is more, no one of those exposed 
cards can be called by either adversary. The 
declarant is not at liberty to pick up a hand 
that he has thus thrown down, but he can 
play it from that position at his own discre- 
tion and with no other penalty than the fact 
that the adversaries can take advantage of it. 
For that reason the declarant alone is the one 
who can safely ''claim the balance of the 
tricks" toward the close of a hand, and show 
down his remaining cards in support of his 
claim. Either adversary who does this, runs 
the risk of being forced to leave his cards on 
the table and being made to play them as the 
declarant dictates; they can all be "called" 
(at the declarant's pleasure) and must be 
played as called, as, in this case, the declarant 
can claim that the other adversary has been 
helped by seeing his partner's hand. 



Exposed Cards 217 

While it is true that the declarant has this 
tremendous license as far as the cards that he 
holds in his own hand are concerned — and 
that he can shove them out and push them 
back as much as he likes — it is not true con- 
cerning the cards that he plays from dummy. 
A touched card in dummy should always he a 
played card and can always he called hy the 
adversaries. 

This rule is tremendously disregarded; 
players will insist ''I didn't take my fingers 
off; where that idea originated is a puzzle 
to me. It doesn't matter one iota whether 
or not you ''take your fingers off; the point 
is that you have put your fingers on. Having 
once done that in dummy, the card is played ; 
and having once relinquished a card from 
your own hand (if you are the declarant) you 
must never take it back. 

The declarant is at liberty to readjust 
dummy's cards if he preface the act with the 
words, ''I arrange," or words to that effect; 
otherwise he must keep his fingers off them 
unless he means to play them. It is an easy 
thing to acquire the habit of keeping one's 
hand poised above the cards while making a 
difficult decision, rather than of allowing it to 
rest on any one card. 



2i8 Complete A.\iction Player 

Cards exposed by either adversary are 
entirely at the mercy of the declarant and 
can be called by him. If either adversary 
show a card on or above the level of the table, 
so that his partner might have seen it (even 
though that partner vows that he didn't) 
that card is ''exposed'' and must be laid 
face-up on the table. The declarant can call 
it and force its play, except to make its owner 
revoke with it. For instance, one adversary 
may ''expose'' the ace of clubs; he must then 
lay it on the table, face-up. His partner may 
lead the king of hearts, and the declarant will 
"call" the club ace; its owner will reply, "No, 
I have a heart," and will play his heart. 
Then the partner may lead the ace of hearts, 
and again the declarant will call the ace of 
clubs, which must be played unless its owner 
holds another heart. And the calling of this 
exposed card can be repeated until it is 
played. On the other hand, its owner is always 
at liberty to play it without waiting to have it 
called; and about this point there seems to be 
misunderstanding. You must play an ex- 
posed card when the declarant calls it (except 
to revoke with it) , but you may play it without 
waiting to have it called. In the case just 
given, where one adversary has exposed the 



Exposed Cards 219 

ace of clubs, if the other adversary is wise 
enough to lead a low club the owner of the ace 
is at liberty to play it, even though it is 
exposed, and is not called by the declarant. 

In other words, the declarant can force his 
adversary to play an exposed card, but not to 
retain it. 

Be very careful, in playing against the dec- 
laration, never to expose a card and never to 
claim ''the balance of the tricks.'* And be 
very careful, if you are the declarant, not to 
touch one of dummy's cards and fail to play 
it, and not to turn over tricks that have been 
quitted. 



CHAPTER XXIV 



TWENTY TEST-HANDS 



Many hands have been sent me from all 
over this country, — and from other countries. 
All that I give here are actual hands, and all 
teach some useful lesson. 

Test-Hand No. i. 
{From New York City) 





9 


74 






« 


975 









Q7632 






♦ 


8 54 




^ Q1068 




Y 


9 9852 


4b 63 


A 


B 


4^ K1082 


<5 AK54 






8 


4 K63 




Z 


4^ J973 




9 


AKJ 






4i 


AQJ4 









J 109 






♦ 


AQ 10 





T^wenty Test-Hands 221 

Rubber-game, love-all. 
Original bids ran as follows : 
Z, ''one no-trump." 

A, "by." 

Y *'two diamonds." (Correct; an over- 
call of danger, on five cards to an honour, and 
an otherwise blank hand.) 

B, "by." 

Z, "two no-trumps. " 

A, "double. " (That is the first mistake; it 
was done for the purpose of frightening Y 
back to diamonds, and Y refused to go. 
Bluffs will not often work with the best 
players.) 

YandB, "by/^ 

Z, "redouble." (You see the result of the 
blufi double. Z was not afraid of any jump 
that A might make. Nevertheless, as Z, I 
should have passed and closed the bidding. 
Two no-trumps doubled and scored would 
have been rubber; and Z was practically sure 
of making it. By allowing A to bid again, Z 
might be able to defeat him, but he positively 
could not take rubber on A's bid. He should 
have closed the bidding where it meant a sure 
rubber for him.) 

A, "three hearts." (That is an awful bid; 
yet it is A's one chance of saving rubber. It is 



222 Complete y\\Jction Player 

a bid he would never have made unless he had 
been frightened into it. He had no reason to 
expect jour trumps in his partner's hand. 
Still, A's bluff double had imperilled the 
rubber, and he had to do what he could.) 

Yand B, ''by." 

Z, ''double." Closed. 

On the play, A lost 200 points. That was 
bad, but it was better than losing rubber. 
Had Z closed the bidding on the "two no- 
trumps" doubled (instead of redoubling), 
he would have scored 250 for rubber, 30 for 
aces, and either 40 or 60 for tricks (according 
to play) . And he would have closed the rubber. 
By redoubling, he gave A the bid, kept the 
rubber open, and allowed A-B another 
chance to recoup their losses. 

If A had passed the "two no-trumps" 
there is scarcely a chance that Z would have 
taken game, because he would have been 
constantly inconvenienced by leading away 
from his strong hand. If the first lead were a 
low diamond, it is highly improbable that 
(on a closed hand) Z would put up dummy's 
queen. If he did so play, he could take game, 
because he could finesse the clubs properly — 
from the weak hand to the strong. But Z 
would have no reason to think that the queen 



T'wenty Test-Hands 



223 



would take the trick. He could not possibly 
tell that both the ace and the king lay with A. 
The Rule of Eleven would show him that B 
held one diamond higher than the four-spot; 
it might easily be the ace or the king. 

Test-Hand No. 2. 

This hand came from the Military Club, 
London; it is the rubber-game, and the score 
is 8-6 in favour of A-B. 



^ 9864 
d|i 10543 





7 






4 9858 




^ 532 


Y 


^ A 


♦ a 


A B 


4^ J876 


<> KQ 10862 




<0> 9643 


4 A42 


Z 


4 QJIO 




^ KQJIO? 






4b EQ92 






AJ 






4 K7 





Actual bidding ran: Z, ''a heart"; A, ''two 
diamonds*'; Y, '*two hearts"; B, ''three dia- 
monds"; Z, "three hearts"; A, "four dia- 



224 Complete -A-uction Player 



monds"; Z, "double"; A, "redouble," and 
took rubber. 

Y's raise was certainly light ; still, he holds 
a side-singleton and four small trumps. To 
save rubber I should have made the raise; 
otherwise, I should let Z do his own raising. 
And, as Z, I should never have doubled four 
diamonds. Nor, as Y, would I have re- 
doubled, for fear Z would have returned to 
hearts; without the redouble it meant rubber 
anyhow, and that was enough. 

Test-Hand No. 3. 

This hand came from West Newton. Score 
love-all on the first game: 

^ KQJ10 8 

4k 10 9 5 

<C> K6 

4 J32 



^ A9785 




Y 




94 


4» A32 


A 




B 


4i Q764 


J5 


A 




872 


4 K.65 




Z 




4 A 10 987 



^ 32 

4k KJ8 

A Q 10 9 43 

4 Q4 



T'wenty Test-Hands 225 

The actual bidding ran as follows: Z, ''one 
diamond"; A, ''one .heart" (very poor, 
indeed); Y, "no"; B, "one spade"; Z, "two 
diamonds"; A, "two spades"; Y and B, 
"no"; Z, "three diamonds"; A, "no"; Y, 
' ' three hearts. ' ' Closed. 

I should bid the hand thus: 

Z, "one diamond." 

A, "no." 

Y, "one heart." (A major-suit is better 
than a minor one on a clean score, and Y has 
64 honours.) 

B, "a spade" (possibly for forcing pur- 
poses). 

Z, "two hearts." 

A, "two spades." 

Z, "three diamonds." Closed. 

IS 



226 Complete Aiaction Player 

Test-Hand No. 4. 



This remarkable hand was sent me by a 
reader, together with three distinct biddings 
which it elicited from three different sets of 
players : 




9 753 

4t K76 

KQ J10843 

♦ — 


9 — 

4t QJ109832 
9753 
♦ 64 


Y 

A B 

Z 


9 KQJ10842 

06 

♦ QJ1093 


1 


9 A96 
■!» A54 

A 

4 AK87 5 


2 



I should bid that hand thus: 

Z, ''a spade, "; neglecting his hundred aces 
because of the singleton, and the awful drop, 
in hearts and clubs. 

A, "by."^ 

Y, ''two diamonds, '^ a warning-bid of weak- 
ness in partner's suit. 

B, "two hearts." 

Z, "two no-trumps" — his partner has the 



T^wenty Test-Hands 227 

suit he lacks. Then it is up to the individ- 
uals how high the bidding shall run between 
the heart hand and the no-trump hand. 

The actual hand was played thus : 

At table one, Z played ''four no-trumps" 
and made a grand slam, with a total of 270; 
70 for tricks, 100 for aces, 100 for grand slam. 

At table two, B bid ''four hearts," Z 
doubled and B redoubled. Z-Y took eight 
tricks before B could get in (they should 
have taken only seven). These tricks were 
worth 200 a piece. One thousand is rather a 
neat score for one hand, isn't it? The value 
of four rubbers ! 

At table three, Z played ''three spades" 
and lost three-odd. 

So that, on the same hand,. Z-Y's score 
was variously plus 270, plus 1000, and minus 
168 (three tricks and simple honours). 



228 Complete Auction Player 

Test-Hand No. 5. 

This came from Ithaca. It was the first 
hand on the second game, and Z-Y were a 
game in. 

^ J109842 

* — 

AJ5 

4 Q742 



^5 


1 


Y 




Z> AKQ763 


4b AQJ109763 


A 




B 


* 


107 








<0> K863 


4i A6 




Z 




4 KJ8 



4k K8542 

4b 10953 

This is the original bidding as sent to me: 

Z, who should have passed, bid ''one club." 

A said ''tw^o clubs." 

Y made the highly incorrect bid of ''two 
hearts." 

B doubled. He should have passed. 

Z, "by"; A, "three clubs" (I wonder why 
he preferred 6 a trick to 100 a trick); Y, 
"pass"; B, "two no-trumps"; closed. A-B 
were defeated by 100 points. A would much 



T'wenty Test-Hands 



229 



better have let the double stand, and B was 
foolish to play no-trumps with a blank suit 
and only one established suit. 

Test-Hand No. 6. 

This interesting hand came from Pittsfield. 
It was a clean score. 

4^ Q8632 
<> K98 
4^ J9853 



^ J942 

d|i K10 7 

<> A J7 652 

♦ — 




^ K 10 87653 

4ii 954 

— 

4^ A64 



V AQ 
4^ AJ 

<> Q10 43 
4b KQ1072 



Z bid ''a spade'*; A ''two diamonds**; 
Y ''two spades*'; and B ''two hearts.** 

Z doubled, which I do not like. 

"A weak double is worse than a weak 
make. *' If B bids three, lacking his own ace 
and queen, he is going to do some ruffing. 



230 Complete Aviction Player 

Test-Hand No. 7. 

This hand was played at West Point, and 
occasioned much discussion: 





^ 


32 






4k 


10 9 « 









952 ' 






4 


19884 




9 KQ97 




Y 


^ AJ108 65 


4t 7543 


A 


B 


4t AQ82 


J 106 






<>3 


4 Qio . 




Z 


♦ 52 




9 


4 






4k 


KJ 









AKQ87 


4 




♦ 


AK73 





The score was love-all on the rubber game, 
and this was the original bidding: 

Z, *'a diamond. '' 

A and Y, *'pass/' 

B, '* one heart.'' 

Z, ''two diamonds." 

A, ''two hearts. " (Wrong. "You can not 
raise on trumps alone. '') 

YandB, "pass." 

Z, "three diamonds." 



* T^renty Test-Hands 231 

A "three hearts" (awful). 

Yand B, "pass." 

Z, "four diamonds." 

A and Y, "pass." 

B, "four hearts." 

Z, "five diamonds." 

A "double. " (I think It was the most as- 
tounding double I ever heard. On what was 
it made ?) 

Z says that if he had the hand to play again 
he should certainly redouble; being in so 
deep, he might as well go deeper. He counted 
"four diamond tricks in his own hand, four 
spade tricks" (rather optimistic), "and a 
club trick." He made his bid, going game 
and rubber. 



232 Complete A\iction Player 

Test-Hand No. 8. 

{From Rancagua, Chile.) 

It is the beginning of the rubber-game; 
A-B are 300 to the good, on the honour-score; 
and these are the cards : 





^7653 






4k A 10 8 7 6 4 

06 

4 J 10 


9a 

KJ53 

4^ A£:d8764 


y 

A B 
Z 


9 K98 
<|> KQ932 
Q 10 7 4 




9 Q J 10 4 2 

A982 
4 Q32 





Actual bidding ran thus: Z, ''pass''; A, 
"a spade"; Y, ^'two clubs"; B and Z, ^^no"; 
A, ^'two spades"; Y, ''three clubs"; A, 
"three spades"; closed/' 

Y led the six of diamonds, dummy played 
the four, Z the ace, and A the trey. The 
point in discussion was Z's proper return 
lead. 



T'wenty Test-Hands 233 

Of course, Y wanted a diamond, but I 
cannot see why Z need be expected to give it. 
The Rule of Eleven showed that there would 
be five diamonds higher than the six-spot 
held against Y, — provided he had led fourth- 
best. With six diamonds higher than the 
six-spot shown on the table and in his own 
hand, Z knew the lead could not be fourth- 
best. It must be short, but not necessarily 
a singleton. 

It might be the higher of two. With the 
four played from dummy, the trey from A, 
and the deuce in Z's own hand, there was 
still the five-spot to account for. It might lie 
with Y as easily as with A. 

Again, it might be that Y's clubs on which 
he had bid were in a combination which must 
be led to. They might be headed by the ace- 
queen, and he might have led from a weak 
suit, hoping to throw his partner in, so as to 
get a club-lead through the declarant's hand. 

The fact that the king of clubs was shown 
in dummy's hand would nullify the advan- 
tage of Z's return club-lead, even provided 
Y held ace-queen. Nevertheless, I think Z 
had a right to his singleton lead, in the hope 
of a ruff. He could not know that A would 
over-ruff, and his (Z's) queen of trumps was 



234 Complete A.\jiction Player 

in a bad position and might never take 
legitimately. 

Either the club or the diamond was a 
correct return lead from Z. Neither could be 
fairly criticised. They evidently know good 
Auction in Rancagua ! 



Test-Hand No. 9. 


{From Nassau, Bahamas.) 




^ 87 
4I1 A9 

10 5 






4b AKQ7653 


^ K Q J 10 
4I1 10 6 3 
A7633 


Y 

A B 

Z 


^ A965432 
Jh Q84 

K9 




9 — 
dli KJ752 

<> QJ84 

4^ J 10 9 4 





The original bidding ran as follows : 
Z, *'a club " (weak, but possibly permissible 
with the heart-ruff) ; A, ''a heart, '' on his 64 
honours; Y, ''a spade"; B, ''two hearts"; Z, 



T^wenty Test-Hands 235 

**two spades''; A, ''three hearts*'; Y, ''three 
spades " ; B, ' ' four hearts " ; Z, * ' four spades ' ' ; 
A, ''five hearts"; Y, "five spades"; B, "six 
hearts"; Z and A, "by"; Y, "six spades," on 
the almost certainty (mark this) that hearts 
would be led and the hope that dummy had none. 

And hearts were, most incorrectly, led, 
giving Y a grand slam. B, who had already 
overbid his hand, and announced more 
"raisers" than he had, now made the terrible 
mistake of leading his ace of hearts. 

Granting that B could not see the hands, 
and that we can, there was still but one 
possible lead for him — the king of diamonds. 

B held seven hearts and his partner could 
not possibly have bid on less than four, 
making at least eleven between them. One 
of the adversaries was, in all probability, 
blank in hearts, and there was the chance 
that it was the weak hand. If so, the ace 
lead was a gift to the weak-hand ruff. 

A must hold something besides hearts; 
spades were announced strongly against A-B. 
That left clubs and diamonds, and Z had 
already bid clubs. Therefore, the only 
possible chance of defeating the bid was that A 's 
' ' outside hand ' ' consisted of the ace of diamonds. 
That, too, might give B a third-round ruff. 



236 Complete Auiction Player 

Had B chosen the diamond-lead, Y would 
have been defeated by five points (50 minus 
45 honours) ; as it was, he scored 63 points, 
plus 100 for slam, plus 45 honours — a total 
of 208 and game-in, and a difference of 213 
points on the result of the hand. And all 
through a badly-chosen lead. 

Test-Hand No. 10. 

The following hand was played at the An- 
thracite Bridge Club, Carbondale, Pa. All 
four players were known for their game, and 
''B'' was an especially strong player. 
Though Y, in this instance, bid high on a 
queen-suit, he was not in the habit of so 
doing. Z-Y were game-in and 600 to the 
good on the honour-score (that sounds like 
some plunging, to me) : 



T-wenty Test-Hands 



237 



t? J973 
* — 
8 

4 Q9876543 



9 A 10 8 a 




Y 




Z> KQ542 


4t KQJSS 


A 




B 


4I1 10 4 3 


J943 








KQ 


♦ — 




z 




4^ AKJ 



4k A9762 
A 10 7 6 52 

Actual bidding: Z, ''a diamond"; A, *Hwo 
clubs"; Y, ''two spades"; B, ''three hearts, " 
and I have been puzzling my head to decide 
why B said "three hearts" instead of "two 
no-trumps," after he knew about his part- 
ner's club-suit. On a clean score I should 
certainly have chosen the declaration that 
meant game in three-odd. Perhaps he feared 
his short diamonds, with diamonds bid by Z. 
Perhaps, again, B wanted to force Y's spades. 
By declaring no-trump he would show 
general strength and a spade-stopper, and Y 
might not go up. Whereas, by declaring 
hearts, B showed but one suit, and might 
tempt Y to his ruin. However — to continue 



238 Complete -AL-uction Player 

the bidding: B, ''three hearts''; Z and A, 
''pass"; Y. 'three spades"; B, ''double"; 
closed. ''And," my correspondent wrote, 
"of course Y made it. " 

B's double was poor, because three spades 
would not put Z-Y gam^e, and three spades 
doubled would put them game, if they made 
it. Again, the trouble was with a faulty lead. 

Let B lead his king of trumps. He will 
know from the bid that the queen Ues with 
Y; by leading the king of spades, B gets a 
look at dummy and still retains a fourchette 
over Y's queen (ace- jack lying over the 
queen). The moment Z sees dummy's 
blank suit, he will lead his ace of spades — 
to stop a weak-hand ruff — and will then lead 
his hearts. Y cannot possibly take three-odd. 

The real B led his hearts first, thus making 
Y a present of an immediate cross-ruff. The 
opening-lead of the spade-king could lose 
nothing and would permit B to choose his 
next lead intelligently. 

Test-Hand Xo. 11. 

The reader who sent me this hand, wrote: 

"There is no score on the rubber game; a 

heavy honoiur-score in favour of Z-Y, Z 



T^wenty Test-Hands 



239 



therefore being willing to incur a penalty to 
save rubber.'' 





9 9865 

♦ Q5 

Q6433 




4k J93 

AK J985 
4 32 


Y 
A B 

Z 


9 A K 107 4 8 
4I1 AK 

10 7 
4 986 




98 

4k 108 7 64 

— 

4 AKQIO 


2 
75 



Actual bidding: Z, ''a spade"; A, ''two 
diamonds''; Y and B, ''pass''; Z, "two 
spades " ; A and Y, ' ' pass " ; B, " three hearts ' ' ; 
Z, "three spades"; A and Y, "pass"; B, 
"three no-trumps"; Z, "four spades"; B, 
"double "; closed. 

A led diamond-king, Z trumped and led 
club-six; B took with the king and led king 
of hearts, following with ace of hearts. Z 
trumped the second heart and led deuce of 
clubs; B took with the ace and led ten of 
hearts, which Z trumped. He next led a 



240 Complete -AL\iction Player 

small club, trumping with dummy's jack; 
then a small trump back into his own hand, 
making his remaining trumps and clubs. 

That was clever playing from Z, but I 
cannot approve of B's bid or play. The rest 
of the bidding was good. 

My first objection is to the statement 
that, as Z-Y were heavily ahead in penalties, 
they could risk something to save rubber. 
When I am ''heavily ahead in penalties'' I 
risk nothing. My risks are the only possible 
means of restoring those penalties to the 
adversaries. I sit tight; bid solidly; forfeit 
rubber, if necessary; but keep the big pejialties 
which are better than rubber. 

My next criticism is B's bid of "three no- 
trumps" without a stopper in Z's suit. 
Suppose he played it ; Z would lead and would 
take six tricks without stopping, forcing three 
discards from B. That was an a^-ful bid! 

Had I been Z, I should have left B in with 
his three no-trumps, in spite of my honours. 
I suppose he feared a guarded jack of spades. 
And, had I been B, I should have led trumps, 
'*up to weakness," every time I was in. 
When the declara^it refrains from triimp-Jeads, 
he has a reason. The adversaries should always 
force him to play trumps, particularly that 



T^wei:it>^ Test-Hands 



241 



adversary who can lead them up to weakness, B 
could easily have defeated the four spades. 
He was in an ideal position to lead trumps, 
and it was only too apparent why Z himself 
was refraining from trump-leads. 

Test-Hand No. 12. 

(A bad double and a poor lead.) 
9 52 

4» AQ42 

^ AJ109763 

^^2 

^ AKJ1097 63 
4i 63 
5 
4k K6 



^ 84 




Y 




d|k KJ 10 98 7 5 


A 




B 


Q 








4 743 




Z 





9 Q 

♦ — 

K842 

4 AQJ10 9852 



Z is playing five spades, doubled by B and 
redoubled by himself. B has been bidding 
hearts strenuously, A has bid clubs once, and 
Y has bid diamonds frequently. Finally, B 
has doubled Z's bid of '*five spades, '' — a very 
16 



242 Complete Auction Player 

poor double, by the way; better to play it 
undoubled and to risk nothing; then, to 
defeat the bid would be to make 50 a trick 
and to see Z win would only be to let him 
take a score that was nearly wiped out by 
B's own ''velvet." B's long hearts would 
certainly be ruffed soon, his barely-guarded 
trump-honour was in a poor position, and his 
singleton was useless, in that he hadn't 
trumps enough to use a ruff. Also, his double 
gave Z the chance of a redouble, and of an 
enormous profit. 

The first lead was the ten of clubs, which 
permitted Z to discard his heart-queen, and 
made him a present of an extra trick. He 
made a small slam and scored 216 points, 
plus 50 for slam, plus 72 honours, plus 100 for 
contract, plus 100 for extra trick, plus 250 
for rubber, a total of 788. 

B should have refrained from doubling, and 
A should have led a heart to his partner's bid. 
He did not hold enough hearts to make this lead 
dangerous, and he had no good lead of his own, 
and no card which would permit him to hold 
the lead until after he had seen dummy. 
That lead was a gift ! 



Tiventy Test-Hands 



243 



Test-Hand No. 13. 
(A mistaken double, and some other mistakes.) 

I will give you this hand as it was originally 
played, in order to sound some warning notes. 



i 


9 763 

4k6 

C> AKQJ4 

|k KQJ9 




9 

4k KQJ9752 
10 8 7 5 
4 10 2 


Y 

A B 

Z 


9 A 10 5 4 2 
4k 10 8 
32 
4 A765 




^ KQ J98 
4» A43 
<> 96 
4^ 843 





It was only the third hand dealt and A-B 
had had phenomenal luck; the first hand, A 
had held a no-trumper with a hundred aces. 
He held all the cards, no one could make a bid 
against him, and he made 40 below the line 
and 100 above. The next hand, B had held 72 
honours in spades and had scored 27 below 
the line. Thus, when the deal came to Z, his 
opponents were game in and 27-0 on the 



244 Complete Axiction Player 

rubber game, with 172 points above the Hne, 
while Z and his partner had an absolutely- 
blank score. Z was anxious to do something 
handsome, and to lose no time about it. At 
first his hand did not look wonderfully 
promising. He opened with ''a heart. '' 

This was good news to B. Imagine sitting 
in his place, holding that rather discouraging 
hand, and hearing your adversary bid on the 
very suit in which you held five cards to two 
honours, including the ace. 

A followed with ''two clubs.'' 

Y should have said *'two hearts'' on his 
club-singleton and his two wonderful side- 
suits. Instead, he said ''two diamonds," 
because of his 56 honours; they would reduce 
those hundred aces held by A two hands back 
to less than half their original value. 

B passed. 

Z realized that his hand was not of much 
use, except in hearts; he realized, too, that his 
hearts were excellent, lying, as they did, in 
such close sequence. That is my first point — 
the strength that lies in a sequence. It is the 
holes in a suit that weaken it. Z remembered 
also the difficulty in going game in diamonds; 
it meant that the other side must take but 
two tricks, whereas in hearts he could give 



T'wenty Test-Hands 245 

them three tricks and still go game. And it 
was his great object to go game in the hand 
and wipe off that discouraging 27-0. With 
the score at game-all, things would look much 
brighter. He determined to use his partner's 
diamonds as a strong side-suit, and to go 
back to his own higher suit. Accordingly 
he bid ''two hearts. '' 

A saw no danger of Z going game on that 
bid; he lacked the ace of his own suit, and 
held six wretched side-cards. He passed. Y 
passed, and B made the terrible mistake of 
doubling ' ' two hearts. ' ' Many players would 
do this in B's place. 

It was fundamentally wrong, because you 
should ''never double anything unless you 
can double everything. '' If B wanted to play 
that hand at hearts, why should he risk 
frightening Y back to diamonds? B could 
not double diamonds, and he could not double 
no-trumps; the only thing he wanted was 
hearts, therefore he should not warn the ad- 
versaries of what he took to be their danger. 

Again, he sat "under" the heart-bid and 
could be led through, and, as his cards were 
far from being in sequence, such a process 
would hurt him greatly. 

And, lastly, "two hearts" would not put Z 



246 Complete -AL-uction Player 

game, if he made it, and two hearts doubled 
would do just that. 

Z was delighted with the double. He was 
absolutely sure of making it, with his trumps 
in sequence, and his partner holding good 
diamonds. Had he been playing with experts, 
he would never have dreamed of redoubling, 
because he liked his position too well to want 
it changed. Moreover, no expert would have 
doubled his hearts unless he could have 
doubled Y's diamonds as well. And with a 
better player sitting on the other side of him, 
Z w^ould have been afraid of a return to 
''three clubs.'' This bid Z was almost sure 
of defeating; he held the ace of clubs and 
two small; his partner held the diamonds, 
and he himself might get a ruff on the third 
round, and the good hearts were his after 
the ace was gone. He might defeat *' three 
clubs, " but it would be far less profitable than 
making two hearts doubled. 

Z was conscious that he played very poor 
Auction when he redoubled that bid. These 
were his reasons: 

1. He had taken the gauge of his adver- 
saries. 

2. The score made him anxious to pull off 
something tremendous. 



T'wenty Test-Hands 247 

3. He feared Y would go back to the dia- 
monds, if he saw his partner doubled and 
afraid to redouble. 

4. He had no suit to fear but spades, 
and he reasoned thus : If A had good spades, 
he would have bid them instead of clubs. 
And if B had good spades, he would have 
covered Y's first diamond-bid instead of 
passing. Also B's hand must be rather full of 
hearts. 

Z redoubled ''two hearts," and prayed 
that A would not go back to clubs; his pray- 
ers were answered. A should certainly have 
said ''three clubs'' on his missing heart-suit 
and Z's redouble. He feared to do so because 
he lacked the ace and held six losing suit- 
cards. 

Every one passed, and Z made a small 
slam on a bid of "two hearts'' doubled and 
redoubled. B took nothing but his ace of 
trumps; he should have made his ace of 
spades, but by a faulty play he lost it and 
allowed Z to make a slam. Z scored 192 
points, 16 honours, 50 for slam, 100 for bonus, 
and 400 for extra tricks, — a total of 758 
points on the hand. 

A led the king of clubs, which Z took with 
the ace. He saved dummy's club-ruff for 



248 Complete Auction Player 

later, and got into dummy with a diamond 
in order to lead trumps through B. B put 
up his ten on the first round of trumps, and 
Z took with the jack. As soon as he found 
A was chicane, he gave up pulling two trumps 
for one and began to lead dummy's diamonds. 
B hated to trump, knowing that Z would 
over-trump ; he therefore continued to discard 
on all the diamonds, and allowed Z to do 
likewise. In this way, Z got rid of all his 
spades, and trumped B's ace. By trumping 
the diamonds and forcing Z to over-trump, 
B would have saved his ace of spades and 182 
points, 50 for slam, 32 for the trick, and 100 
for its extra value above the line. 
The mistakes in this hand were : 

1. B's double, sitting where he did, and 
with his hearts not in sequence ; also with the 
score as it was. 

2. Z's redouble. He risked frightening the 
adversary away to another suit. 

3. A's failure to bid ''three clubs. " 

4. B's failure to trump the diamonds when 
they were led through him. He made Z a 
present of all those spade discards. 



X'wenty Test-Hands 249 

Test-Hand No. 14. 

{A Hand from Texas) 

This was sent me with the question, ''What 
should Z have done?" 







^2 

4t K875 
6 AQ632 
4932 




9 984 
4t QJ432 
K 10 7 5 4 
♦ — 




Y 
A B 


^KJ 10 7653 

J98 
4 AKQ 




< 
4 


? AQ 

k A 10 9 6 

> 

i J 10 8 7 6 5 


4 



What Z should have done was to pass. 
There is no question about this; no ground 
for doubt. What he did was to bid ' ' a spade. ' ' 

Z should pass, because: 

His hand, though guarded in three suits 
answers ''No'' to no-trumps, because of the 
blank diamonds, the woeful drop in clubs, and 
the fact that the long suit is jack-high. Z 



250 Complete Aviction Player 

would have to come in three times to clear 
it, and before his third reentry the suit of 
the adversaries would probably be established 
and they would be sailing down the line, 
particularly if their suit were diamonds. 
That ends no-trumps for Z. 

Going to the next best suit, spades, Z 
cannot bid because he is jack-high, and a 
first-round bid may never be made on a 
jack-suit. 

It is obvious also that Z cannot bid hearts, 
diamonds, or clubs, and that ends it. 

And there is still another reason to bid 
him pass. Not only would he be in great 
luck if he made game on that hand (to take 
four-odd would presuppose that all the 
balance of the cards were just where Z wants 
them), but Z has every reason to hope that 
neither adversary will go game. They might, 
of course, but in order to do it they will have 
to bid. And the moment either adversary 
bids, the bidding is open for a second round 
and Z can perfectly well bid his own spades. 
This bid, being made on the second round, 
will be correct; will not mislead his partner; 
will not give ground for raises that might fit 
beautifully with an original top-card bid, 
but which would prove murderous to a low- 



T'wenty Test-Hands 251 

card bid; and will permit perfectly good team- 
work. A first-round jack-bid is death to 
team-work. 

If Z passes, A will certainly pass. So will 
Y, if he knows his business. A diamond-bid 
from Y would be very poor. A third-hand 
weak bid in a minor-suit, on a clean score, 
and on a hand that holds no other asset but 
a side-singleton and a side-king, is always 
wretched. Y holds but five trumps with two 
honours. Do you think it looks like five-odd 
in diamonds? I don't. In any case, B will 
bid his hearts, and then Z is at liberty to bid 
his spades correctly. 

Now a word as to the principle that forbids 
a first-round spade-bid from Z. 

The first round of bidding is made purely 
and simply in the interests of team-work. 
It is made with a view to communication and 
combination. 

I don't say that Z couldn't probably take 
the odd at spades. The chances are long 
in his favour. But what is the odd? What 
are even two or three odd in comparison to 
the fact that your partner can depend on 
you? Rest assured that if you get the habit 
of jack-bidding, not only will you be con- 
stantly tempted, but your partner will 



252 Complete A\iction Pla>^er 

always be at sea. He will never know what 
you mean. 

Under such a system, Auction would be as 
higglety-pigglety as it was when we all first 
started playing, years ago. Team-work 
hadn't been invented. We all just bid what 
we thought we could make. Instead of 
knowing anything about our partner's assist- 
ance we ' ' wondered ' ' or ' ' hoped. ' ' The game 
had a wishbone instead of a backbone. But 
now we have inserted a nice firm spinal 
column, and it is able to sit up and take 
notice. 

Remember this: If you tamper with the 
laws for the make, you will certainly and 
definitely kill the laws for the raise. Your 
partner, trusting you, will raise a bid that he 
supposes to be legitimate. He will raise it as 
many times as his hand permits. And there 
will come the crash of a falling edifice. A 
house with an insecure foundation may stand 
erect for one story, but it becomes more and 
more unsafe as it rises in height; and just so 
does a bid court disaster if it is built on a 
shaky underpinning. 

A first-round bid announces positively the 
ace or the king. About once in a thousand 
times there will arise a possible first-round 



X'wenty Test-Hands 253 

queen-bid; and even on those rare instances 
it carries subsequent necessary warnings in 
its train. But a first-round jack-bid does not 
exist. 

If you tell your partner you have the ace or 
the king of your suit he will believe you, and 
he will act as if he did. And if he finds even- 
tually that your information cannot be relied 
upon he will soon cease to care to play with 
you. 

There is a story told of a game at a club 
where one of the players made a first-round 
bid on a jack-suit. His partner, trusting him 
for ace or king, bid and raised accordingly. 
The result was disaster, and the show-down 
proved that it was attributable to the un- 
soundness of the opening-bid. Then the 
partner of the jack-bidder said: ^'Partner, 
if you were reading the evening paper to me 
you wouldn't change a word of the most 
unimportant item, yet you lie like a trooper 
about a thing as vital as the make-up of your 
hands.'' A common method of expressing 
contempt of any one's bidding, by the way, 
is to say, *'He is the sort of player who would 
bid on a jack." 



254 Complete Aiaction Player 



Test-Hand No. 15. 



This is a hand 


in which I was one of the 


players. There 


was a 


large ''gallery" 


watching. 










9 


10 






* 


AKQ J75 







J3 






4 


8743 




9" 9863 




Y 


^ AQJ54 2 


4t loi 


A 


B 


4i 943 


-6 KQ970 


10 6 2 


4 J 10 




Z 


♦ 6 




9 


K7 






4b 


8 6 









A 84 






♦ 


A K Q 9 5 


2 



Z was the dealer, my partner, and an 
excellent and rehable player. It was a clean 
score on a new rubber; Z and I had been 
holding miserable cards. 

Z picked up the first good hand he had 
held and bid *'one spade.'' A passed and 
I said *'two spades''; it was on the tip of my 
tongue to say "three" instead of *'two, " and 
I rather wish I had; the results would have 
been the same — but I consider "three" the 
better bid. 



X^wenty Test-Hands 255 

B passed. He would probably have said 
'*two hearts/' and he could just have made 
them. But he feared a three-bid. He held 
nothing but a good heart-suit — six cards to 
three honours — and a side-singleton. There 
were seven losing cards in his hand, even if 
he never lost to the king of trumps, w^hich, as 
it happened, he would have been forced to do. 
His partner had passed, and given no indica- 
tion of his hand. Thus, B feared ''three 
hearts." 

Had he bid them he would have failed in 
his contract by one trick; but we would never 
have let him have them; we would certainly 
have outbid any heart-bid with our spades. 
But (this is the point) A's bid would have 
shown his partner what suit to lead. It 
would, in this case, have saved a grand 
slam. That is why I think he should have 
bid; that, also, is why I think I should have 
said ''three spades," in place of "two." I 
should have been surer of silencing A, or 
defeating him. 

A, unaware of his partner's holdings, led, 
correctly, his king of diamonds. And, of 
course, Z made a slam. He took the first 
diamiond-round with his ace, exhausted the 
adverse trumps, then led clubs, discarding 



256 Complete Auction Player 

his losing diamonds and hearts on dummy's 
long clubs. 

With a heart-bid from B, A would have 
led his highest heart, and B would have taken 
with his ace because of dummy's singleton. 
Z would have made small slam instead of 
grand slam — a difference of 50 points. 

When the hand was over there was a babel. 
'*Why did you raise your partner's bid when 
you didn't have to?" ''I thought you didn't 
believe in preemptive bids ! " ' ' What was the 
sense in your raise?" And so on. I raised 
my partner's bid because I knew our hands 
fitted, and I therefore announced my raisers 
without waiting to see whether it was 
necessary. I don't believe in preemptive 
bids from the dealer, or from the first person 
who bids on either side. Those players are 
putting out feelers; they are trying out the 
hands ; they are endeavouring to find whether 
their hands and their partners' hands fit; at 
what suit the hand can most profitably be 
played; who should play it to the best ad- 
vantage; whether it is a playing-hand, a 
def eating-hand, or merely a dead hand. Per- 
sons who want to know all these things 
should be careful to leave a chance for some 
one else to speak. 



T-wenty Test-Hands 



257 



But the second partner to bid knows these 
things. The man who first tries the ice should 
step carefully; the man who knows it to be 
safe may jump with all his weight. 

The ** sense'' of the bid was shown by the 
result. We made an otherwise impossible 
grand slam. 

The next question was: ''Wouldn't it 
have been just the same if Z had opened with 
*two spades'?" 

In this case it would, unless B, warned by 
the preemptive bid, had named his hearts 
anyhow, — as he should. 

But suppose the cards had lain thus: 

^10 5 4 
d|k Q 10 3 

4^ J 10 8 6 



9 


AQ93 




Y 




Z> 


J86 2 


4» 



J952 
KQ72 


A 




B 


4» 



AK74 
J 10 3 


^ 


4 




Z 




4 


73 



^K7 

4il 86 

A84 

4 AKQ952 

Z's hand, you see, is precisely the same. 



17 



258 Complete A\Jction Player 

Neither adversary has a good hand and 
neither one has a possible bid. Z's opener 
of **two spades" would have stood, and the 
bidding would have closed. And he couldn't 
possibly have made it ; one-odd is all he could 
take. 

It is unusual to find your partner without 
a single trick, but it is possible. I have held 
such hands thousands of times. 

Therefore, it depended on my hand whether 
Z could, or could not, make two spades. When 
he bid, he knew nothing of my cards. I 
might just as easily have held the second of 
the two given hands as the first one. As 
mine was the decisive hand, mine should be 
the bid. In other words, bid your own 
hand — not your partner's. Let him be the 
one to do his own bidding. He knows his 
hand and you do not. 

Then came one last objection: "But didn't 
your bid shut out information you might 
have obtained from B? Didn't it keep you 
from hearing his bid?" 

What did I care what B held? All I 
wanted was to keep him from telling his 
partner. I knew positively" that my hand 
fitted my partner's as a well-chosen glove 
fits the hand. I knew that if he held good 



X^wenty Test-Hands 259 

spades, my four small spades, my wonderful 
clubs, my heart singleton and diamond 
doubleton would give us a marvellous com- 
bination. I knew spades should be our suit, 
that my partner was marked as the Player 
and I as the dummy. And that was all I 
wanted to know. Moreover, it was all I 
wanted the adversaries to know. A bid 
from B would have helped his partner much 
and me not at all. 

Remember, the first partner to bid should 
not block information, because he knows 
nothing of his partner's hand. He wants to 
leave room for overcalls and warnings. The 
second partner to bid has heard all he needs 
to hear. He may bid preemptively, un- 
necessarily, as he chooses, provided only that 
he bids sensibly. The clearness of this point, 
the difference of the two positions, are so 
obvious to me that I cannot see how they 
can be obscure to anyone. 



26o Complete A\iction Player 

Test-Hand No. i6. 

4^ AQ64 
965 

4^ Q87654 



9 A K Q 10 5 


Y 




9 


•li 753 






4^X982 


82 


A 


B 


K Q J 10 7 3 


4^ A92 


Z 




4 EJIO 



^ J9876432 
•|l J 10 
A4 
43 

There is no possible question what Z 
should have done. He should have passed. 
No jack-suits are biddable on the first- 
round. 

This Z didn't play that way. He believes 
that his own head is better than all the rules 
ever made. Those rules, by the way, were 
formed by numerous heads after wide and 
exhaustive experiments. But Z's head suits 
him, and if it tells him he has a bid, he makes 
that bid. 

Z still insists that with any eight trumps 
an immediate bid is obligatory, ''especially," 



T^wenty Test-Hands 261 

says Z, **when the hand holds a side-ace and 
a side-singleton.'* 

I was playing A. Z's opening bid of ''two 
hearts'' — to show he ''lacked the tops" — 
caused me to rub my eyes and wonder if I 
were dreaming. 

I passed, of course. "When the bid suits 
you, say nothing." Certainly Z's bid suited 
me. 

Y, in spite of the preemptive bidding 
(which said "let me alone"), wavered, and 
finally overcalled with "two spades." 

B said, " three diamonds. " He would have 
done just the same if Y had passed. 

Z responded blithely with "three hearts." 
His singleton in the suit his partner had 
named, his ace of the adversary's suit, and 
his eight trumps, all seemed to him ample 
excuse. 

And now I was confronted with a problem. 
To double or not to double? that was the 
question. I was virtually sure of defeating 
anything. I held hearts, my partner held 
diamonds, and I held the ace of spades. No 
one could jump to no-trumps, and the 
chances were that no one could go to "four 
clubs." 

But it was almost certain that my double 



262 Complete Aviction Player 

would send Y back to spades. I would lose 
my 64 honours in hearts. While I might 
beat Y's spades, I could almost certainly not 
beat them as heavily as I could beat Z's 
hearts. I was on the right side of Z and the 
wrong side of Y. Should I take several 
fifties, plus 64 and a good position — or one 
(possibly two) hundreds, without my 64, 
and with bad position? Of course, at that 
time I knew nothing whatever of my partners' 
king of clubs, simple honours in spades, and 
blank hearts. I simply knew that if Y played 
spades he would probably ruff my hearts 
from the beginning (he had made a warning 
overcall and Z must have extreme heart- 
length to go to ''three" without a raise, and 
on a combination that was jack-high). For 
aught I knew Y might have five or six spades 
to the king-queen. He might then take a 
spade-round and a diamond-round or two. 
Adding even a possible club-round or two, it 
didn't look good enough. I decided to keep 
to hearts and my 64 honours. I passed. 

This showed the wisdom of Y's original 
spade overcall. It kept me from doubling 
and increasing my points considerably. Y 
passed. He was discouraged; also, he had 
decided that his partner probably held eight 



T^wenty Test-Hands 263 

or nine hearts to the queen-jack-ten, and not 
a single spade. Also, that we others were 
possibly laying a spade-trap for him. 

Z played ''three hearts.'' We took seven 
tricks — our book being four. Three tricks 
at 50 apiece, plus 64 honours, gave us 214 on 
the hand. 

Had I doubled Y would have gone to 
' * three spades ' ' — probably. Again, we should 
have taken seven tricks, our book being four. 
These three over-tricks would have been 
worth 100 apiece (B would have doubled if I 
hadn't). We should have scored 300 plus 
36 honours — 336 points. 

But then, it would have been B's hand 
that did that, not mine. His 18 spade- 
honours, his king-jack-ten of trumps, lying 
right over the queen, his king of clubs on the 
proper side of the club-tenace, his solid 
diamonds without a single break in them, and 
his over-ruffing the hearts after Y had ruffed 
them, would have been the things that 
brought a big victory against spades. I 
couldn't possibly know about them. 

I am quite willing to admit that this was a 
very unusual hand, but it happened. ''What 
man has done, man can do. " The practical 
counterpart of that hand might happen again. 



264 Complete -A.'uction Player 

Why were the rules made to bar first- 
round jack-bids? Why were they given such 
immediate and universal support? Not, I 
assure you, because any one person, or any 
few or several persons, felt prejudice against 
jack-bids. But because exhaustive experience 
proved the unwisdom of such bids. 

Test- Hand No. 17. 

{From Tokio, Japan.) 

Z-Y had ten on the rubber-game, each 
side having one game and A-B not having 
scored on the third game: 





^ 10 6 
♦ A Q 10 
Q865 
4 KQ94 




9 J953 
Jh3 

J 10 9 4 
4^ A 7 63 


Y 

A B 

Z 


9q 

4t K98765432 
A 
♦ J2 




^ A K 8 7 4 

K73 2 
4 10 8 5 


2 



T'wenty Test-Hands 265 

Z was playing ''three hearts," and instead of 
making it and scoring rubber (as he should), 
he permitted himself to be defeated by one 
trick. His score on the hand was thus minus 
34 (50 minus simple honours). It should 
have been 290 plus, a difference of 324 points. 
In addition, A-B took rubber on the next 
hand. 

There are various ways of murdering Z's 
hand. I will show you the particular way he 
chose, after giving you the bidding. 

Z, "a heart"; A and Y, "no"; B "two 
clubs"; Z, "two hearts"; A and Y, "no"; 
B "three clubs"; Z and A, "no"; Y, "three 
hearts"; closed. 

A led jack of clubs, to his partner's bid. 
Z should have played dummy's queen, drawn 
B's king and trumped it. He would then 
have commanded two club-rounds and have 
obtained two valuable discards. 

Instead, he plumped dummy's ace on the 
jack, knowing that B would then hold up the 
king and that the suit would not be cleared; 
(we are so particular about "clearing suits" 
in no-trumps, why don't we try it a little 
oftener in declared trumps?) 

Z's next idiocy was leading a club from 
dummy, ruffing it with his deuce, and getting 



266 Complete -A."uction Player 

over-ruflfed by A. Of course, as Z said, 
*'how was he to know that B had nine clubs?" 
That is true. But he did know that B had 
bid alone to three, without the ace, the queen, 
the jack, or the ten ; he knew that A had never 
raised him ; he knew that somewhere between 
A and B lay two side-aces; had A held an 
ace and many trumps, he would have given a 
raise. 

But leaving all that, what Z should have 
known — what everyone should know — is this : 
there is never any hurry about taking a 
ruff in the long trump hand unless you have a 
cross-ruff. The long trump hand can always 
get its ruffs when the adverse trumps are 
exhausted. It should not work for early 
ruffs, except in the case of cross-ruffs. When 
the weak hand, the short trump hand, can 
get a ruff before his trumps are pulled 
(dummy's hand I mean), then let him take 
it. But let the declarant save his ruffing till 
later. 

A over-ruffed the club and led a small 
spade. Z came in with dummy's queen and 
committed the unpardonable fault of leading 
dummy's last club. He seemed to think that 
by ruffing with the seven or eight (dummy 
holding the six and ten) he would either cut 



Twenty Test-Hands 267 

A out or force an honour. A over-ruffed 
the seven with the nine and led a diamond. 
B took and led a club on the mere chance of 
A being able to beat dummy's ten. A did 
beat it with the jack. A thus took tricks 
with three of his four trumps and with his 
ace of spades and B took with his ace of 
diamonds. Z was defeated by one trick. 
He played like a fool, but was, of course, 
entirely satisfied that there ''was nothing 
more in the hand, " and that ''no one would 
have suspected B of holding nine clubs.'' 



268 Complete A-uction Player 

Test-Hand No. i8. 

(Played at the Seaview Golf Club, Atlantic 
City. I was Y) : 

The score was game-in for A-B, and 18-0, 
on the second game for Z-Y. 

9 10 

♦ Q 753 

A3 

4 A Q 10 4 3 2 



^KQ 




Y 




Z^ J9S5432 


* 


A 




B 


*9 


K 10 9 4 2 




QJ 65 


4 K J9 86 5 




Z 




♦ 7 



9 A 76 

d|l A KJ 10 8642 

87 

Z, "a club"; A, ''pass," (I don't see why) ; 
Y, "two clubs"; B and Z, ''pass"; A, "two 
spades. " 

The moment I heard this bid from A, and 
saw myself holding six of his suit, I knew 
my partner could have few, if any. That 
meant that if spades were played (by A or 
by me) they could not be led through him and 
up to me. I would have to keep taking 



T^wenty Test-Hands 269 

tricks and leading up to A's trumps. My 
own three low trumps would inevitably be 
lost (unless they were used in ruffing), my 
ten was in jeopardy, even my queen was 
threatened. Position of holding was against 
A; position of lead would eventually be 
against me. 

When B found his partner holding the 
bid at '*two spades,'' on the second round, 
he might, of course, have overcalled in hearts. 
But B had a right to his own judgment. 
Though he held but two black cards in his 
hand, both singletons, it is still true that he 
held not one solitary ace nor king, not a 
queen except one in a side-suit, not a blank 
suit, and that he was jack-high in trumps, 
held but a single honour, and that both his 
side-singletons were sure losers. So he had 
some right to hesitate over an apparently 
unnecessary three-bid. If his partner helped 
as little in hearts as he himself helped in 
spades, where would he land? 

We scored grand slam in clubs, my part- 
ner's losing diamonds falling on my ace of 
diamonds and ace of spades; my hand, of 
course, trumped his losing hearts. Grand 
slam (100), plus 9 times honours (54), plus 
seven tricks at six each, plus game. 



270 Complete A\iction Player 

Had I played spades, I could have taken 
but the odd, incredible as it may seem. 

Had A played * 'two spades '' he would have 
gone down two tricks. 

Had I doubled A's spades and had B 
jumped to hearts he could have made four- 
odd (game). 

Four-odd would have meant rubber for 
them, so we would have bid ''five clubs"; 
then suppose A-B, having once realized their 
heart-strength, would prefer a small loss 
to letting us go game; suppose they said 
*'five hearts," — which would cost them 
but 34 points (50 minus 16), or 84 points 
if doubled (100 minus 16), do you sup- 
pose we should have dared the small- 
slam bid? I think, considering the score, 
we should; but, even so, we would have been 
no better off than we were anyhow, and 
my decision not to double saved us all a lot 
of strain. 

I realize perfectly that this is a start- 
lingly theatrical hand — but it happened. 
Could anything more perfectly justify our 
theories of combining the two hands, of 
bidding to the score, and of "never doub- 
ling anything unless you can double every- 
thing"? 



T^wenty Test-Hands 271 

Test-Hand No. 19. 

Here is a hand I held nearly four years 
ago — one of the best hands I ever held. I 
have never forgotten it, nor the lesson it 
taught me. It was the first deal on a new 
rubber; in fact, it was the first hand of the 
evening : 





9 J985 
4k A862 
2 

4 8765 




9Q764 

4^ 10 9 3 

06 

4 J 943 2 


Y 

A B 

Z 


9 10 2 

Jft 74 

KQ87543 

♦ Qio 




9 AK3 
4t KQJ5 
A J 10 9 
4k AE 





I opened with ''a no-trump.'' 

A and Y passed, and B said 'Hwo dia- 
monds. '' I doubled. I could not only defeat 
diamonds, but I could defeat any other 
bid. I was bound to take two diamond- 
rounds. My ace would kill the king, the 
queen would draw my nine, and then I held 



272 Complete A-uction Player 

the highest two trumps. Also, I held simple 
honours in diamonds. 

A and Y passed, and B, being a very 
excellent player, did a clever thing. He re- 
doubled, in order to frighten me back to no- 
trumps; he knew his losses would be slighter 
if I played the hand than if he played it. 

He nearly succeeded. I suddenly imagined 
him with all the good cards I didn't hold 
myself. I thought: ** Suppose he has all the 
rest of the diamonds and the ace of clubs, 
and a blank-suit in hearts or spades." In 
that case he could have made his two dia- 
monds. Two of the tricks on which I was 
counting ( the hearts or the spades) would be 
ruffed and lost. B's hand would have looked 
like this: 

^ Q10 9 

4l A 

<> KQ8765432 

He would have lost three rounds of 
diamonds and two of hearts; the rest would 
have been his. That meant he would make 
his bid, redoubled, and score a bonus of 100 
for doing it, a total of 128. I was on the 
verge of going to ''two no-trumps'' where 



T-wenty Test-Hands 273 

I knew I was safe ; in fact, I opened my mouth 
to make the bid, but suddenly decided to say 
''pass'* instead. 

That is the worst of Auction blufSng: it 
isn't Uke poker — because every hand is 
played to a finish. B's bluff would have 
been brilliant if it had worked. But it 
didn't. 

I made 814 on that one hand. It put me on 
''Easy Street" for the evening. I could 
afford to be ultra-conservative. I needn't 
even worry about rubbers, for that one hand 
was worth as much as two or three rubbers. 
Therefore, being so well-fixed, I ended the 
evening a heavy winner. 

In showing that hand recently, I said that 
I was convinced that most players would 
have bid *'two no-trumps" in place of 
doubling two diamonds. A man to whom I 
was talking asked ' ' Why not ? " 

The answer to that is, because it isn't 
using your cards to their best advantage. 
Any one could win on a hand like mine; the 
thing was to win the utmost possible. And 
the only way always to accomplish that end 
is to get the habit of thinking of all the oppor- 
tunities the game offers you and of choosing 
the most profitable. Don't limit yourself 
18 



274 Complete Aviction Player 

to the bidding possibilities and forget all 
about the profitable art of defeating. 

Test-Hand No. 20. 
{Spurious Brilliancy.) 

My text in Auction has been : Always look 
to see if you can defeat the adverse bid 
before you cover it with a bid of your own! 

A close observance of this rule would not 
only make for safety and for the harvesting 
of big penalties, but it would absolutely kill 
a certain order of miserable bids. These bids 
are always considered *^ brilliant'' by their 
admirers (usually very mediocre players not 
daring enough to attempt such ''brilliancy'' 
themselves, and too shallow to see its utter 
futility when matched against real brilliancy) . 

They have a certain sort of meretricious, 
showy dash, utterly undeserving of admira- 
tion. 

From well-known winter resorts, women 
have brought home tales of ''the most 
wonderful bid you ever heard, by one of the 
best players in the world." Before they 
attempt to describe it, I know what it is going 
to be. 



X^wenty Test-Hands 275 

Then, in New York City some one says: 
''Did you hear about that marvelous bid of 
]Mr. So-and-So's the other night?'' And 
I always want to say: *'No, but I know just 
what it was. You needn't bother to tell me. 
It is as old as the hills. " 

It is as old as the hills, and it is absolutely 
incapable of success, if players only remem- 
ber : Always to look to see if they can defeat 
the standing adverse bid before they cover 
it with a bid of their own ! 

I will give you an example of the sort of 
''brilliant" bid I refer to. It is simply a form 
that will cover various situations. The cards 
may be different, but the idea will always be 
the same : 

It is a clean score (or it may be any score). 
Each side has a game (or it may be the first 
game of the rubber), or one side may have a 
game-in. The point-score is immaterial; the 
game-score is equally so. 

Z deals himself these cards: 

AKQ 
4^ J3 

KQ32 
4^ AQJ2 

He bids an excellent no-trumper on but 
one unprotected suit. 



276 Complete -ALViction Player 

A passes, Y passes (holding a miserable 
hand, but lacking even the material for a 
call-oflF), and B (fourth-hand) sits with these 
cards: 

9 5 4 3 2 

4^ A K Q 10 9 5 

A 

4^ 9 5 

He knows that Z's improtected suit must 
be clubs. He knows, therefore, that if he 
bids his clubs it will kill the no-trumper and 
leave him to play a ver\' low suit himself. 
He prefers to force the no-trtmiper, perhaps 
to double it, and certainly to pla}' against it. 
Xot having the lead he wishes to show his 
partner how to put him in, and to do it 
without naming the suit which he wishes to 
keep a myster}' — in other words, without 
baring his pitfall. He bids ''two diamonds.'* 

He is enabled to do this, because he plays 
invariably with players who bid whenever 
they can, who never look first to see if they 
can defeat. Z, ha\'ing bid ''a no-trump,'' 
can have but one unprotected suit. That 
suit is almost certainly clubs, therefore it 
cannot be diamonds; therefore, Z stops 
diamonds and will be sure to raise his own 
no-tnmips. Z, being that sort of a player, 



X^wenty Test-Hands 



277 



does just what is expected of him. He bids 
''two no-trumps.'' B doubles (being the 
type of player who doubles one thing even 
though he can double no other) . In this case, 
the double works. The bidding closes; A 
leads his highest diamond, to his partner's 
bid; B comes in with his singleton ace, and 
makes seven tricks right off the reel. 
Behold the entire hand: 





^976 

dll 862 
<> J94 
4 K873 




9 J 10 8 

4k 74 

10 8 7 6 5 
4 10 6 4 




Y 

A B 

Z 


^ 5432 

■|i A K Q 10 9 5 

Oa 

4 95 




< 
4 


3? AKQ 

C> KQ32 
^ AQJ2 





After Z's no-trump, A, of course, has no 
bid. Nor has Y. B's we have already 
discussed. 

After B's ''two diamonds/' suppose Z 
had said to himself: ''Can he make two dia- 
monds? No, I don't think he can. I'll let 



278 Complete Auction Player 

him play them/' Suppose Z had acquired 
that Auction habit, instead of the prevaiHng 
one of saying: ''Can I bid? Yes, I can. 
Hoop-la, I'm off ! Nothing can stop me !" 

Doesn't Z know that B cannot probably 
make two diamonds? There is, of course, the 
chance that he can; but two diamonds are 
not very terrible, even when scored against 
one. Z has no way of knowing that B's bid is 
an absolute bluff. As far as Z can tell, B may 
hold this: 

4^ AKQ 

A J 10 8 7 5 
4 K9 

Even then, on a perfectly solid bid, Z can 
defeat B by taking two diamonds, two hearts, 
and two spades. 

Z knows that, whatever happens, he will 
take two diamond-rounds. The ace must lie 
with B, or he couldn't bid; no one may bid 
jack-high, and Z himself holds the king and 
the queen. 

Again, Z's own hand is so normal in dis- 
tribution that it is improbable that B has a 
very phenomenal number of singletons or of 
blank suits 



X'wenty Test-Hands 279 

Let Z leave B in with his two diamonds. 
A cannot bid ; diamonds suit him better than 
anything else, anyhow. Y cannot bid, he has 
a wretched hand, and his failure to stop the 
diamonds makes it impossible for him to raise 
the no-trumper. B is left to play his two 
diamonds! With a singleton ace of trumps! 
There is no help for it — he can do absolutely 
nothing to extricate himself. 

Z takes three heart tricks right off. He 
follows with the ace of spades, which wins; 
finding the king lies with his partner (Y 
plays an *^ encouragement'' card, the eight 
spot, on Z's ace; that says, ''I have the king, 
come on''); finding this, Z leads a low spade, 
which Y takes. Y will lead either clubs *'up 
to weakness," or trumps, equally to weakness. 
We will imagine the club. B takes. If he 
leads a trump, Z-Y will take three trump- 
rounds and another spade — nine tricks in all, 
and their book is five; if B leads clubs, he 
will make a second-round, Z will trump the 
third with his queen and lead a small trump, 
and the result is the same. 

Try this method a few times and see how 
these ^'brilliant" bids work. If their makers 
aren't cured of the habit in a very few sittings, 
I miss my guess. A woman was describing 



28o Complete Aviction Player 

them to me the other day; she was lost in 
admiration of them and she said, ''Oh, I shall 
never in the world be clever enough to make 
such bids!'' And I wanted to say to her, 
*' Thank your lucky stars for that!'' 

Don't lose your head over spuriousness. 
And don't bid, don't ever hid, without first 
looking to see whether you can defeat. You 
will soon kill bluffs. 



CHAPTER XXV 

THREE PARTIAL-HAND PROBLEMS, AND THEIR 
SOLUTIONS 

It has been said that when eight rounds of 
an Auction-hand have been played, every 
player at the table should be able to place 
the remaining twenty cards absolutely and 
accurately. In other words, the last five 
rounds of every hand should be exactly the 
same as an ''open" hand. 

I do not agree with this in the least. There 
are plenty of hands where it can be done, of 
course; but there are certainly plenty more 
where it cannot. And I should greatly like 
to see it put up to the players who make the 
claim. 

The big cards can nearly always be placed, 
of course — the aces and faces — and even 
cards considerably lower than those. But 
all the rules in the world (including the rule 
of eleven), all the acumen, the memory, the 
inference, and the observation, will not enable 

281 



282 Complete -A.iaction Player 

anyone always to place unerringly the final 
twenty cards of a hand. 

Again, it has been said that all vital plays — 
the plays that land game or lose it — are made 
during the last five rounds. And again, I dis- 
agree. Plenty of games are lost on the very 
first round. A game may be lost wherever a 
mistake may occur, and mistakes may occur 
anywhere. And yet, there is a very large 
grain of truth in both of these statements. 

At the close of the eighth round we should 
all know approximately the distribution of the 
remaining cards. Sometimes we should even 
know it accurately. Also, the play is likely 
to become more concentrated on the last five 
rounds ;withsomany cards accounted for, more 
scope is given for brilliant and unusual play. 

Therefore it is, that the problems of open 
hands, and partial hands, are useful. On 
those occasions w^hen we are able to place the 
remaining cards, we can reason out the solu- 
tions just as though the hand was open. The 
only difference is that we cannot actually 
play the cards until after our decision is made 
— we must imagine them played. 

It has been argued that partial-hand 
problems are ''all tricks." If they covered 
situations that could be handled in the usual 



THree Partial-Hand Problems 283 



way, they would be no problems at all. But 
we all know that while rules must be obeyed 
in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, the 
hundredth situation does sometimes arise 
and the rules must then be broken. 

These problems help one to recognize the 
''hundredth situation.'' And nearly every 
trick-problem covers some great principle 
that can be profitably marked for future use. 

Here are three of the cleverest problems 
I have ever seen, together with their solutions. 









I St 
^ 87 








4» A2 








J3 










♦ — 




^ 




Y 


^ — 


4» J3 






A B 


Jhs 


Q5 








10 8 6 


♦ Q7 






Z 


4b J5 






c? — 








4^10 








AZ9 








4k 10 9 . 




Hearts 


are 


trumps, Z is t 


lead, and Z-Y 


want all of the 


; six remaining 


tricks. How can 


they take 


them a 


gainst any 


defence? 



284 Complete Axiction Player 



2nd 





^ 


Q865 






4 


A Q JIO 















4 


KIO 




^ AKJ 


~ 


Y 


^9 


4^ 98632 


A 


B 


4i 754 


KQ 






10 9 54 


4 — 




Z 


♦ Q7 




V 


10 7 4 32 






Jh 


K 









J863 






4 







Hearts are trumps, Z is to lead, and Z-Y 
want eight of the ten remaining tricks, against 
any defence. 



THree Partial-Hand Problems 285 



3rd 





^ AK8 






*10 






54 






♦ — 




9 10 6 3 


Y 


^QJ 


*s 


A B 


4» KQ 


QJ 




AK 


♦ — 


Z 


♦ — 




^95 






* A2 






— 






♦ 43 





Spades are trumps. Y leads. And Z-Y 
must take all six tricks against any defence. 



286 Complete Aviction Play^er 



Q5 
♦ Q7 



SOLUTIONS 




1st 






^ 87 ' 






* A3 






J3 






♦ — 






Y 




^ — 


A 


B 


*8 
10 8 6 


Z 




^ J5 


^ 






*10 






AK9 






4 10 9 







Hearts are trumps, Z is to lead, and Z-Y 
want all of the six remaining tricks. The 
hand was sent me with the word that it had 
puzzled clubs both here and abroad, and the 
query as to whether it was ''sound. '' 

Z leads his king of diamonds, throwing 
dummy's jack. He must do this in order to 
unblock for his own nine-spot later in the 
hand, when he wants to finesse the diamonds 
from dummy and through B. If dummy 
retained the jack, Z couldn't get into his own 
hand with the nine-spot. 



TKree Partial-Hand Problems 287 

Z's next lead is the nine of spades. It 
doesn't matter whether A covers or not; Z 
trumps in dummy. 

He then leads the eight of hearts, in order 
to force discards. Z himself will not be hurt 
by a discard; he has a perfectly useless card 
to throw — his ten of clubs. He can make his 
club-ace anyhow, because the lead is already 
in dummy. Therefore the club-ten is super- 
fluous. But A will be seriously hurt by the 
discard; he must do one of three things: 
discard a club and establish Y*s deuce; dis- 
card a diamond and make Z's later diamond- 
finesse good; or discard the leading spade. 

Z has forced him to this position by the first 
two leads ; he wants A to discard from one of 
the two vital suits (diamonds or spades) before 
he himself discards from either of those suits. 
Position is against him, and unless he retained 
that useless ten of clubs for a first discard he 
would be forced to make a vital discard before 
A did so. As I have said, it is necessary to 
his purpose and his future play that this first 
vital discard should be thrust upon A. Z will 
then model his later play on this discard. 

A's best discard is the spade-queen, because 
B holds the jack of spades; it matters not, 
however, what A discards — Z makes his six 



288 Complete Axiction Player 

rounds. B's discard on the trump-lead should 
be the eight of clubs. 

Z next leads the ace of clubs. If A has 
already thrown the queen of spades and B 
now throws the jack, Z's ten is good. If A 
has played spade-queen and B plays a dia- 
mond, both of Z's diamonds will be good. 
If A has thrown the diamond-queen, whether 
B now plays the spade or the diamond, Z's 
diamonds are good; he can finesse dummy's 
trey through B's ten-eight up to his own ace- 
nine. He therefore throws his spade. And 
if A's first discard was a club, dummy's 
deuce is established and Z has no trouble at 
all. 

The point is that A must be forced to dis- 
card one spade, one club, or one diamond 
before Z discards anything vital. Z's second 
discard depends on A's first one. 

If Z chooses a spade for his first lead he fails 
to prepare the diamond situation. A still has 
two diamonds ; if he discards the low one and 
retains the queen (on Z's third-round trump- 
lead) he can force Z into his own hand and 
make him lead diamonds to B; Z will then 
lose the sixth round, thus : 

First round — Z, nine of spades; A, seven of 
spades; Y, seven of hearts; B, five of spades. 



XHree Partial-Hand Problems 289 

Second round — Y, eight of hearts; B, eight 
of clubs ; Z, ten of clubs ; A, five of diamonds. 
Z must now lead the ace of clubs, or he will 
never get back to do it. 

Third round — Y, ace of clubs; B, jack of 
spades ; Z, ten of spades or nine of diamonds. 
And A's play depends on Z's; if Z throws his 
spade, A throw his ; if Z throws a diamond, so 
does A. The advantage of position is A's and 
not Z's. 

If they both throw diamonds, it is obvious 
that A takes the spade in the end. If they 
both throw spades, Y's next lead is the jack of 
diamonds, which he is forced to take with the 
king, in order to keep A's queen from winning. 
And he will then have to lead from his own 
hand up to B's, and B's ten of diamonds will 
be good. 

And finally the only other lead in Z's hand, 
and apparently the most obvious one, is the 
ten of clubs. This deprives him of a super- 
fluous card for his first discard ; and, provided 
the adversaries play properly, he cannot take 
more than five out of the six rounds. The 
lessons in this hand are, first : the throw of an 
unnecessarily high card, in order to unblock; 
and second, forcing the adversary to discard 
ahead of you, 
19 



290 Complete Auction Player 

2d 





9 


Q865 






* 


AQ JIO 















4 


ElO 




9 AKJ 




Y 


9 9 


4» 98632 


A 


B 


4b 754 


KQ 






10 9 5 4 


♦ — 




Z 


♦ Q7 




^ 


10 7 4 3 2 






4^ 


K 









J863 






4 







Hearts are tnimps, Z is to lead, and Z-Y 
want eight of the ten remaining tricks. That 
means that A will take with his ace and king 
of trumps (as he must, of necessity), but that 
he will take no other trick. His jack must 
never take, and B must take no tricks at all. 

The first noticeable thing is that Z holds 
more trumps than he needs. He won't mind 
wasting a few. 

The second thing is that his jack of dia- 
monds will be high on the third round. 

The third is that his highest trump is, most 
conveniently, just one spot higher than B's. 



THree Partial-Hand Problems 291 

If B trumps the fourth round of clubs, Z can 
over- trump. And there is no other suit which 
B can trump. 

The next is that, by leading diamonds up to 
the long diamond-hand (B), and clubs up to 
the long club-hand (A), Z can establish a very 
pretty cross-ruff that cannot be over-ruffed. 

All this for Z. Considering Y's hand, Z 
realizes that Y must never lead either trumps 
or spades up to A. If he led trumps he would 
establish A's jack; and if he led spades A 
would overtrump Z. Therefore, the only 
thing Y can lead is clubs; if he continues to 
hold the lead with those clubs, the time will 
come when they will be gone. Then he will 
have to do one of two forbidden things — 
lead spades or trumps. 

The only way to obviate this difficulty is for Z 
to trump his partner's good clubs with some of 
his own superfluous hearts. Did he not do 
this, he would have to discard diamonds on 
them. And he needs those diamonds in his 
business; he needs them to lead. 

If Z didn't have diamonds to lead, he 
would have to lead trumps. That looks at 
first glance like a good thing to do; dummy's 
queen sits nicely over A's jack. And if A 
were obliging enough to play his jack, just 



292 Complete Aviction Player 

to get it killed, it would all work ver>^ nicely. 
But A won't; his hopes are centred on that 
jack. Why should he sacrifice it? A will 
come in with the king of trumps. Y's five 
will fall, and A will force Y with a diamond. 
That cuts Y's trumps to two; one more 
diamond force and his trtimp-queen is all 
alone and a prey to A's ace. 

Three things become apparent from this: 
first, that Z must never lead trumps, but 
must allow Y's trumps to make separately 
from his own; second, that if he does not 
retain all his diamonds, he will not only 
unguard his jack but will have nothing to 
lead save trumps; and, third, that A must 
not be allowed to get in during the early 
roimds, or he will take matters into his own 
hands and use the diamond force. And the 
only way to keep him out is to avoid trump- 
leads. 

But two leads remain to Z — diamond or 
club. It appears later that the diamond 
lands the lead in the wrong place as the hand 
progresses. 

Z leads club-king, taking with dummy's 
ace. Leads club-ten and trumps. Leads 
small diamond and trumps in dummy. 
Leads jack of clubs and trumps it. Leads 



TKree Partial-Hand Problems 293 

diamond-six and trumps in dummy. Leads 
club-queen and trumps (using his ten, if B 
trumps). And then leads the jack of dia- 
monds, which is now high. A holds but the 
nine of clubs (which is high) and his three 
trumps. If he discards the club, Z discards 
dummy's small spade and leads another 
diamond ( you see now why he needed all his 
diamonds). If A trumps with the jack, Y 
overtrumps and leads king of spades. And 
if A trumps high, Y discards and holds a pro- 
tected queen of trumps. A*s next lead of the 
club is trumped by Z, who leads the diamond 
through A, up to Y's two trumps. 

Of course it is a *' trick'' to trump all one's 
own taking cards; but look at the subtlety of 
the situation. Z needs his trumps less than 
his diamonds. And I need hardly warn 
players not to make it a general rule to trump 
their own tricks. 



294 Complete Auction Player 





3d 






9 AK8 






♦ lO 






54 




O 1063 


♦ — 




Y 


<^HK 


^ ^ 




9 QJ 


<iJ 


A B 


♦ EQ 


♦ — 




AK 


Z 


♦ — 


( 


^ 95 




( 


*A2 






— 




i 


Ik ^3 





Spades are trumps. Y leads. And Z-Y 
must take all six tricks against any defence. 

Y leads the king of hearts and Z throws his 
nine. The entire solution depends on this 
play of Z's, as it prepares the way for a later 
heart-finesse from Z's hand, through A's ten- 
qx>t, and up to Y^s king-eight. Did Z not 
unblock hearts on this first round he could 
never enter Y^s hand with the eight-spot. 

Y^s next lead is a diamond, which Z trtmips. 
He then leads his remaining trump to force 
discards. Y discards club-ten. If B discards 
a diamond he makes Y's little diamond good : 



THree Partial-Hand Problems 295 

if he discards a club, he makes both Z's clubs 
good, and if he discards his heart he permits 
Z to finesse hearts through A's ten-six, and 
up to Y 's ace-eight. 



CHAPTER XXVI 

DUPLICATE auction; COMPASS AUCTION; 

TEAM AUCTION ; TOURNAMENT 

AUCTION 

Duplicate Auction is played in duplicate 
trays, or boards. During each hand, the 
board lies in the centre of each table with its 
star to the North, and its index pointing to 
the Dealer. 

Each person plays his cards in front of him 
instead of onto the centre of the table, which, 
of course, is occupied by the board. Thus, at 
the close of each hand, the cards lie in four 
distinct piles in front of their owners, and are 
ready to be placed in their respective pockets. 

No hands are arranged before the game 
begins. The first time that a board appears, 
it may hold the cards, for convenience. But 
those cards are taken out, shuffled, cut, and 
dealt. After the hand has been played, the 
cards of each player are placed in the pocket 
that faces him; and on the re-play, the hands 

296 



Duplicate; Team; To\irnament 297 

are taken out separately, and played without 
further mixing or shuffling. 

On the re -play, the star of each board is 
moved one point to the left, so that every 
hand is held by a player who played against 
it on the original play. 

The bidding puts such a point on the hands 
and makes them so impossible to forget, that 
it is necessary to allow a long time to elapse 
between the play, and the re-play, of the 
boards. 

On each round, each person holds out in 
front of him the card he intends to play, 
clearly exposing its face. When the four 
cards have been so shown, they are laid (face 
down) in front of their respective owners; 
the two cards of the partners who have won 
the trick, are laid lejtgthwise to their owners; 
and the two cards of the partners who have 
lost the trick, are laid sidewise to their 
owners. 

The Player instructs dummy which card to 
lift and hold, on each round. Dummy may 
never play a card until instructed by his 
partner. 

It is impossible to play games or rubbers. 
The fact of the bids being different on the 
play and on the re-play, would alter the 



298 Complete Aviction Player 

state of the score on the appearance of a 
certain board. And, were game the object, 
the score would again alter the bid. 

A gross score is kept, points below the line, 
honours and penalties above. Every hand is 
played from a clean score and the effort is 
always to '' go game on the hand'' (that is, to 
take 30 or more trick points on one hand). 
The reward for so doing is a bonus of 125 
honour-points. Thus, the rubber-value is 
approximated and the bidding is kept sane; 
it is made for points instead of honours. 

After the re-play, a plus-and-minus score 
is taken on each deal. The score of the pair 
who made the least on each hand is deducted 
from that of the pair who made the most, and 
the difference is entered on the final results as 
''minus" for the losers and as ''plus'' for the 
winners. 

There are excellent special score-pads 
printed by a certain firm in CaUf ornia. These 
permit the recording of each final bid and the 
name of its player. But, failing them, an or- 
dinary very long score-sheet will do perfectly. 

Compass Auction 

Compass Auction is better than duplicate 
in that the re-play can be made at the same 



Diiplicate; Team; Toiarnament 299 

sitting and that the same hands are never 
again seen by the same players. It has but 
one drawback — it requires exactly eight 
players. 

The players sit at two tables and are 
known as "North/' "South," "East," and 
"West" of Table I; and as "North," 
"South," "East," and "West" of Table 
II. The players sit with their backs to the 
compass-points whose names they bear. 

A certain number of boards is played at 
each table; this number must be a multiple 
of four. Table I can be playing boards one- 
to-eight (or one-to-twelve), while Table II 
plays nine-to-sixteen (or thirteen-to-twenty- 
four). The boards are then exchanged for 
the re-play. 

The hands pass from table to table and are 
never played twice by the same persons, 
even in a different position. This is an enor- 
mous improvement over the old game of 
Duplicate Whist where each hand appeared a 
second time before the same players. It is 
impossible not to remember unusual hands, 
and difficult not to take unconscious ad- 
vantage of one's memory. 

In Compass Auction, each person is really, 
playing against the person who occupies the 



300 Complete Auction Player 

same relative position at the other table. 
North, at each table, is actually playing with 
South, against the defence of Ease and West. 
But what he is tiying to do is to defeat North 
at the other table; they are going to play 
exactly the same hands; the thing is, to see 
which of them can score the most, or lose the 
least, on those hands. 

Thus, if you hold a poor hand, you do not 
play it against the good hand at your own 
table. Or rather, you do so play it; but 
you are trying to lose less on it than will your 
adversary (at the other table) when he comes 
to hold that same poor hand and to play it 
against that same good one. 

As nearly as possible, the element of luck is 
eliminated — at least, as far as the cards are 
concerned. But it can never be eliminated as 
to one's partner and adversaries. If you 
have adversaries who make foolish bids and 
doubles, you are in luck. And your score will 
run much higher than it would if you should 
play those same hands against a stronger 
defence. Xor do the results always testify 
in favo^or of sound judgment; a riskj^ bidder 
may make thoroughly unsound bids which, 
through luck, will go through and show a 
higher score than that achieved by more 



Dviplicate; Team; Tovirnanient 301 

conservative and sane bids. In the long run, 
of course, the sound bidder would win out; 
but luck might easily favour the plunger for 
two hours or more. 

The score is kept in Compass just as in 
Duplicate, a plus-and-minus score on each 
hand. 

Team Auction 

Team Auction is just like Compass. Pair 
one, of a given team, play North-and-South 
at one table ; pair two, of the same team, play 
East-and-West at the other table. 

Tournament Auction 

A proper tournament is one where losers 
drop out after each event. It should be 
conducted like Team Auction, in an infinite 
number of pairs of tables. All the tables 
should be arranged in pairs ; duplicate play 
should be between companion-tables only, and 
not against the room. Four boards (or eight) 
should lie on each table. After their play, 
and re-play, an *' event'' is closed. Results 
are compared, losers drop out, and the tables 
re-form. The number of tables is thus being 
constantly reduced till but two are left. The 



302 Complete A-uction Player 

four winners, out of those eight players, are 
the winners of the tournament. 

Players should preferably enter in pairs, — 
even in tables. ''Byes'' should be drawn 
(if necessary) exactly as in a tennis tourna- 
ment. A pair of Auction-players will corre- 
spond to an individual tennis-player; a table 
at Auction will correspond to a tennis-pair. 
The opponents are at the companion-table. 

What is generally spoken of as an Auction 
'* tournament'' is really a Round Robin. 
All the players stay in up to the end. There is 
but one board, and one pack of cards, on each 
table, and but one original shuffling of each 
pack of cards. After each hand, every North- 
and-South pair of players sits still; every 
East-and-West pair moves in one direction; 
and every board is moved in the other. 



CHAPTER XXVII 

PROGRESSIVE AUCTION 

Progressive Auction is rightly regarded 
as a terrible game by all real Auction lovers. 
However, it is sometimes necessary in the 
interests of sociability. 

There are no games nor rubbers. There are 
four (or eight) deals at each table. After 
these, those players at each table who have 
made the highest score below the line take a 
bonus of 50 (or 100) points added to their 
total score (points and honours), *' progress," 
and change partners. 

A better game is for every table to try to 
play a rubber. The first table to finish one, 
announces the fact in some way — as by 
striking a bell. At the signal every one stops. 
Any hand that is actually in progress may be 
finished and scored. Any hand that has not 
been begun in play (bidding doesn't count) 
must be thrown out. Total scores are 
reckoned at each table, an extra 125 being 

303 



304 Complete Aviction Player 

allowed for each individual game. Winners 
progress. 

Still another way is for everyone to play 
rubbers till the last table has finished one. 
Then the quicker players count as many 
rubbers as they have finished, as well as 125 
for each game in an luifinished rubber, and 
the same on each hand of an unfinished game. 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

THREE-HANDED AUCTION ; ' ' MISS " AUCTION ; 
TWO-HANDED AUCTION 

In three-handed Auction, there are no 
permanent partners. An individual three- 
column score is kept. 

The cards are dealt in four packets, 
dummy's cards being seen by no one till after 
the final declaration. 

The player who gets the bid, takes dummy 
for his partner and plays alone against the 
other two players. 

Every honour is scored by its individual 
holder, at the value of a trick, hut above the line. 

The score, as provided for in the laws, is 
such a cut-throat affair that many players 
refuse, rightly, to sit in a three-handed game. 

A gross score is kept for each player. At 
the conclusion, the lowest score and the next- 
to-lowest score are both deducted from the 
highest. Both these players (the one with 
the lowest score, and the one with the next- 
20 305 



3o6 Complete -A."uction Player 

to-lowest) then pay the top man the differ- 
ence between his score and theirs. In 
addition, the lowest score is again deducted 
from the next-to-lowest, and the difference is 
again paid by the lowest man to the second- 
best. 

This is murderous. It makes three winners 
and three losers {six players) in a three- 
handed game. Take A for the player with 
the high score, B for the second, and C for the 
third. A wins from B; he wins from C; B 
wins from C. That makes three winners. 
C loses to A; he loses to B; B loses to A. 
Three losers ! 

There is a much fairer way of counting. It 
is frequently used but not adopted officially. 

" Miss '* Auction 

A much better game for three players is the 
English one of ' ' Miss ' ' Auction. It is played 
with an exposed dummy. 

Each player receives twelve cards. Twelve 
are dealt, face-up, to dummy. The remain- 
ing four cards, face-down, form the ''Miss'' 
(like a "widow"). 

There is but one round of bidding — each 
player combining his hand with the open 



X^wo-andTHree-Haridlecl; **Miss** 307 

dummy, and bidding immediately all that 
he dares, or chooses. 

The successful bidder plays with dummy 
against the other two. He takes up the 
*'Miss '* and, from it, gives one card to himself 
one to dummy, and one to each adversary. 
He distributes these cards at will. 

Two-Handed Auction 

A very fascinating game for two players is 
two-handed Auction. 

It is played with a full pack of cards. The 
dealer deals his adversary and himself each 
thirteen cards, alternately. Two cards are 
dealt, face-down, to form a ''widow, " and the 
remaining twenty-four cards lie in a pack, 
face-down, with the exception of the top one, 
which is turned face-up. Each player looks 
at his hand and decides what suit (or suits) 
he had better keep and draw to ; also whether 
he wants the card that is faced on the top 
of the pack. Suppose your original thirteen 
cards are these: 

4i 10 8 4 

J5 

4^ AJ9872 



3o8 Complete -ALiaction Player 

You see at a glance that you have the 
foundation of an excellent spade-hand. Sup- 
pose the card faced on top of the pack is 
the queen of spades, and it is your lead (z. e^ 
that the other player dealt). The only way 
for you to get that queen is to take the first 
trick, and the only taking card in your hand 
is the ace of spades, for at this point of the 
game there are no trumps, the players have 
either to follow suit or to discard. You, 
therefore, lead your ace of spades. Your 
adversary must follow suit if he can. If not, 
he discards, and in either case you take the 
trick. But you do not lay it in front of you. 
The two played cards are thrown to one side, 
face-dow^n, in the discard pile. You take the 
queen of spades from the pack and your ad- 
versary takes the next card. He knows your 
card, but you do not know his — it may be 
good or bad. But you both know that the ace of 
spades is in the discard pile, and can never 
appear later in the hand — in other words, the 
king of spades is now the highest spade. 
Another card is turned up on the pack — say 
the four of hearts. It is your lead, as you 
took the last trick. You don't want the four 
of hearts, so you lead to lose it, the three of 
hearts. Your adversary may be forced to 



X"wo- and TKree-Handed; *'Miss**309 

take this, or he may hold the two and play 
under your three, thus forcing the four on 
you, or he may be filling his hand to hearts 
and may want even a small one. In any case 
the two cards just played are thrown into the 
discard pile, another card is turned, and the 
player who took the last trick leads. It is 
always a mistake to force, or allow, your ad- 
versary to take too many cards of the same suit 
even if they are small ones, particularly if 
they are in a high suit. And it is very 
essential to remember what cards have been 
played and thrown aside. 

When the last two cards have been taken 
from the pack, there are twenty-four cards 
in the discard pile, two in the ''widow,'' and 
thirteen in the hand of each player. Then 
you start in to play Auction. The player who 
took the last trick is forced to open the bid- 
ding; his adversary covers, passes, or doubles, 
and the bidding goes from player to player 
till one of them passes. This closes the 
bidding. 

The successful declarant may take the 
* 'widow, '' or leave it . If he takes it , he is forced 
to keep both cards that he has picked up, and to 
discard two other cards from his hand. And 
he may not discard any ace nor any trump. 



310 Complete Aiaction Player 

It would give him too much of an advantage 
to know that a certain ace, or a certain trump, 
was out of the way, while his adversary was 
still awaiting its appearance. If his hand 
should not hold two cards that are eligible to 
discard, and if he is forced to discard an ace 
or a trump, he must do it face-up. 

If the successful declarant refuses the 
widow, his adversary may take it, or leave it, 
with the same conditions. 

The adversary of the successful declarant 
makes the opening lead, and the remainder of 
the game is played under the same laws as 
four-handed Auction. 

It is an excellent memory-test to keep 
track of all the cards in the discard pile, and 
the ** widow '' lends the element of chance to 
the game. 



CHAPTER XXIX 

ON RULES 

If I should begin this chapter by saying 
''all rules save one, were made to break/' you 
would probably be tempted to wonder why, 
under those circumstances, I have been so 
insistent regarding them. The facts are 
these : No one can afford to take the slightest 
liberty with any rule until he is an expert; 
when he is an expert he will probably know 
the rules thoroughly; and when he knows 
them, he will not want to break them except 
in one case out of a hundred. 

The rules were made to cover ninety-nine 
cases out of every hundred, and they do. 
Occasionally the hundredth case arrives, but 
it takes an expert to recognize it. And any- 
one else who tries it will come to grief and 
drag his partner with him. 

The idea of playing ''from your own head" 
would be all right if you had no partner, or if 
all heads were exactly alike and took precisely 

311 



312 Complete A-uction Player 

the same view of every situation. As neither 
of these premises is correct the practice 
stands condemned. 

There is a huge difference between the 
player who breaks a rule upon rare occasions 
— but who does so intelligently, opportunely, 
and with a purpose — and the one who ignor- 
antly breaks a rule every time he plays a card. 
One is like a person who speaks perfect 
English, but who occasionally descends to 
slang, or bad English, in order to put a point 
on a story; and the other is like a person who 
murders the King's English every time he 
opens his mouth — and doesn't even know he 
is doing it. 

Stick religiously to the rules until you 
become expert (not in your own eyes, but in 
the eyes of all who play with you) , and then 
continue to stick to them, unless the situation 
is very unusual and demands special handling. 
Then handle it accordingly. There is just 
one rule that I should never trifle with under 
any circumstances, and that is ''never hid no- 
trump unless you stop the adversary's suit,'' 
The man who breaks that rule walks on very 
dangerous ground. 

Please don't forget all that I have said 
about the ''ninety-nine cases" and remember 



On R\iles 313 

only the hundredth, and please don't think 
that the latter has arrived every time you are 
tempted to do something unusual. Play the 
game just as conservatively and just as well 
as you possibly can ; but if an occasion arises 
where, after having looked carefully at every 
side of the case, an irregular course seems to 
be the best, — then take that course. In other 
words, break a rule when the issue is more im- 
portant than the rule! But don't break any 
rule lightly, carelessly, ignorantly, nor selfishly. 
They are good old rules — better friends than 
outsiders even guess — and I hate to see them 
set aside, if only for a moment. 

A wooden player is never a brilliant one; 
but there are many brilliant players who are 
thoroughly unsafe. Where their ' ' brilliancy ' ' 
pays once, it will miscarry three times. 

Just notice one thing and see if I am not 
right. The man who constantly takes un- 
warranted liberties him.self, is the man who 
demands the most unswerving conservatism 
from his partners. He is a spoiled child, 
nothing more. And it takes all the conser- 
vatism that those partners can possibly 
exercise to make a good average with his 
'^brilliancy." 

I know, of course, hundreds of players who 



314 Complete -A."uction Player 

break rules ignorantly or selfishly. I know 
numbers of players who never break a rule. 
Having learned their rules thoroughly, it 
never occurs to them that an occasion might 
arise which would admit of original handling. 
Such players are wonderful disciples and 
followers ; they could never be leaders. They 
make absolutely satisfactory partners in 
ninety-nine cases out of a hundred. When 
that hundredth time comes, you are apt to 
fume inwardly at their limited vision and 
their want of spirit. But remember this, 
perfection is hard to find, in a partner as in 
anj^hing else ; and there is no question which 
is better, — the partner who never breaks a 
rule, or the partner who generally breaks one. 
Take the former whenever you can get him, 
and be thankful for your luck ! 



CHAPTER XXX 



CARD-SENSE 



We hear a great deal about *' card-sense''; 
it is an expression in constant use. Such and 
such a person has **no card-sense" and can 
never learn to play; another has wonderful 
*' card-sense/' I contend that there is no 
separate gift that should bear that name. 
It is true that certain persons acquire quickly 
any card game that is presented to them, and 
achieve a high grade of skill in it; and it is 
equallj^ true that certain other persons seem 
incapable of grasping such things. Yet no 
one could lay this to stupidity ; the non-card- 
player may be as brilliantly clever a person 
as any that you will ever meet. So, for want 
of a truer definition, we have coined the term 
of card-sense. 

Card-sense is the possession (natural or ac- 
quired) of a number of gifts — all of which are 
of the greatest use, not only at cards, but in 
the entire course of one's life. The first and 

315 



3i6 Complete Aviction Player 

greatest of these gifts is concentration. 
Brilliancy and concentration do not always 
go hand in hand ; but concentration and skill 
at cards are inseparable. When you are 
playing a hand, that hand should be the only 
thing in the world, as far as you are concerned. 
No fascinating thoughts of new toilets, no 
engaging bits of gossip at the next table, no 
dream of love, even, should share your con- 
sciousness. The woman who looks up with 
vague eyes in the middle of an enthralling 
hand and wonders whether she will rent her 
house this summer, is the woman who should 
either give up Auction, or buckle down to it. 
You simply cannot get the most out of a 
difficult hand unless you are thinking of that 
hand exclusively at the moment you are play- 
ing it. To some persons this gift of concen- 
tration is natural; others acquire it with 
difficulty. But it can be acquired. And who 
will gainsay me when I maintain that it is one 
of the most useful of mental attributes ? 

After concentration, I should place memory. 
It does not take a phenomenal memory to 
keep track of thirteen cards in each of four 
different suits. Almost any trained intelli- 
gence can remember fifty-two objects. But 
Auction memory does not end there. You 



** Card-Sense '* 317 

must remember the rules, the leads, the bids, 
and, above all, the similar situations under 
which you have seen existing conditions approxi- 
mated, and what were the results of those 
situations. And this will help you toward 
the acquiring of the third requisite — judg- 
ment. 

Your judgment of an existing condition 
and of the best way of handling it may be 
naturally quick and sound. If it is not, it can 
positively be made so by seeing that situation 
arise again and again, in a more or less modi- 
fied form, and by having forced upon your 
consciousness the results of various forms of 
handling it. Memory will help you with past 
experiences, and practice with present ones. 

Practice, or habit, is the fourth great in- 
gredient in this recipe. Play, play, play — 
provided always that you play intelligently. 
There is nothing else that will so help your 
game. 

There are two more elements that make 
toward success at cards, and those two I will 
grant are more apt to be inborn than acquired ; 
but they are not so absolutely essential as 
those I have already mentioned. The first 
of these two is quickness, and the second is 
harder to define. It is the gift of foreseeing 



3i8 Complete Aiaction Player 

hypothetical situations and their results, 
should they arise; it is the gift of the chess 
player. He does not pick up the pieces and 
move them around to see what will be the 
result of a certain play ; he looks at the board, 
and (without touching a piece) he says to 
himself: ''If I move thus, or thus, my adver- 
sary will be able to do this or that ; then I can 
go on to such and such a move, '' etc. He is 
able to look ahead and foresee the outcomes 
of different modes of procedure without 
losing himself in a labyrinth. Personally I 
find this the hardest gift to acquire, and that 
is probably the reason that I am willing to 
consider it inborn. 

Take, then, this prescription for the acquir- 
ing of card-sense: Three parts of concentra- 
tion, two parts each of memory, judgment, 
and practice; one part of foresight, and one- 
half part of quickness. Dose: from three to 
six times a week for six months. The result is 
guaranteed. 



CHAPTER XXXI 

THE HUMAN SIDE OF THE GAME 

The human side of the game has two 
aspects : first as regards one's self; and second, 
as regards the other three players at a 
table. 

Every player should make it his aim to be 
thoroughly unselfish and thoughtful of the 
comfort of the others. He should rid himself 
of all annoying mannerisms. I know fault- 
less players who render every game a burden. 
Some hum tunes under their breath; some 
keep up an incessant tattoo with their fingers, 
on the table ; some close their cards in a tight 
little pack after each play, and have to run 
them all over every time they want a card; 
the cards should always be kept in a close 
fan-shape in the hands of the players. Some 
hold their cards too far away, and have 
constantly to be asked to hold them up. 
Some ''snap'' every card they play; this is as 
hard on the cards as it is on the nerves of the 

319 



320 Complete Auction Player 

other players ; cards shoiild always be played 
as noiselessly as possible. Some cover the 
cards with their hands, as they play them, — 
thus rendering it impossible to see them; all 
cards should be tossed or dropped. Some 
(these are women of course) always load the 
card-table with a mass of gold-bags, hand- 
kerchiefs, chains, vanity-cases, etc., — which 
constantly jingle, and which take up room 
intended for other things. Some players are 
always trifling with the ''still " pack of cards, 
so that there is no way of marking the deal. 
And many, many players are execrable 
winners and execrable losers. 

Excessive slowness is maddening and un- 
necessary. You have to decide sometime; 
learn to do it with a fair degree of celerity. 
Any undue emphasis given to the play of a 
card, whether by manner, gesture, or speech, 
is an outrage against etiquette. 

Constant explanation and discussion are 
weanring and unnecessary. Nobody is dying 
to know just vjky you did a certain thing, — 
and your explanations will rarely convince 
them of its correctness. 

Not everv^one can play a faultless game; 
but everj^one is certainly capable of the 
highest degree of etiquette and courtesy, — 



TKe Hxxman Side of tKe Game 321 

and these two things go far towards making 
up for any lack of skill. 

After attending to yourself, learn to study 
all the persons with whom you play. Practise 
character-analysis. Auction is a combination 
of Whist and Poker, — that is what gives it its 
fascination; and it has been justly claimed 
that Poker, more than any other card-game, 
requires insight into human nature! In one 
respect, there is a wide difference between the 
two games: '* bluff will not go, in Auction, 
because every hand is played to the finish, 
and because you have a partner. 

But you must study your partner and your 
adversaries. If you know a man is deter- 
mined to play every hand, you can * 'force'' 
the bid much more successfully than if you 
are playing against a nian who is wise enough 
to *'drop,'' and to leave you to play your 
forcing-bid. If you see a player is an in- 
veterate bluffer, call his bluffs. If you realize 
that, although he knows his rules, he is given 
to breaking them, *' just for this once, '' draw 
your own conclusions accordingly, and don't 
trust him as implicitly as you would a more 
conservative player; if your partner is ultra- 
conservative, take an occasional risk yourself 
• — just to make a good average; if he is risky, 



322 Complete A.\iction Player 

stick to rock-bottom solidity in your own 
play. If luck is with you, gamble on it ; if it 
is against you, never try to force it — limit 
your losses. Be reliable, be conservative, 
but don't be wooden. 

But, after all, written instructions on this 
head are useless. Insight into human nature 
and the ability to cope with a given situation 
are inborn, acquired, or lacking. If acquired, 
actual experience is the only teacher. Printed 
matter will help you in your game, your rules, 
your choice of method. But it can never give 
you insighto 



The 
Laws of Auction 

As Adopted by 

The Whist Club 

Together with the 

Etiquette of the Game 



13 West 36th Street, New York 
1916 



Copyright, 1915 

BY 

THE WHIST CLUB 
New York 



CONTENTS 



The Rubber 










329 


Scoring 










329 


Cutting . 










332 


Forming Tables 










332 


Cutting Out 










333 


Right of Entry 










333 


Shuffling 










334 


The Deal 










334 


A New Deal . 










335 


The Declaration 










337 


Doubling and Redoubling 








342 


Dummy .... 








► 343 


Cards Exposed before Play . 








345 


Cards Exposed during Play 








. 346 


Leads out of Turn . 








. 348 


Cards Played in Error . 








. 349 


The Revoke 








. 350 


General Laws 








. 353 


New Cards 








. 354 


Bystanders 








. 355 


Etiquette of Auction 








. 355 




325 











PREFACE 

At a meeting of the Board of Managers of 
the Whist Club the following laws applicable to 
Auction were approved and adopted. 

The Whist Club. 

New York, June, 191 5. 



327 



The Laws of Auction 



THE RUBBER 



1 . A rubber continues until one side wins two 
games. When the first two games decide the 
rubber, a third is not played. 

SCORING 

2. Each side has a trick score and a score for 
all other counts, generally known as the honour 
score. In the trick score the only entries made 
are points for tricks won (see Law 3), which 
count both toward the game and in the total of 
the rubber. 

All other points, including honours, penalties, 
slam, little slam, and undertricks, are recorded 
in the honour score, which counts only in the 
total of the rubber. 

3. When the declarer wins the number of 
tricks bid or more, each above six counts on the 
trick score: six points when clubs are trumps, 
seven when diamonds are trumps, eight when 
hearts are trumps, nine when spades are trumps, 
and ten when the declaration is no trump. 

329 



330 Complete Axiction Player 

4. A game consists of thirty points made by 
tricks alone. Every deal is played out, whether 
or not during it the game be concluded, and any 
points made (even if in excess of thirty) are 
counted. 

5. The ace, king, queen, knave, and ten of 
the trump suit are the honours ; when no trump 
is declared, the aces are the honours. 

6. Honour^ are credited to the original holders ; 
they are valued as follows : 



WHEN A TRUMP IS DECLARED 

3^ honours held between partners equal value of 2 tricks. 

4 " " " " •' " 4 " 

5 " ." " " " " 5 " 
4 " in I hand " *' 8 '* 

( 5th in ) 

4 " " I *• -{ partner's > " " 9 " 

I hand J 



WHEN NO TRUMP IS DECLARED 

3 aces held between partners count 30 

4 " " .^ " " " 40 
4 " " in one hand " 100 



7. Slam is made when partners take thirteen 
tricks. ^ It counts loo points in the honour score. 

8. Little slam is made when partners take 

^ Frequently called "simple honours." 

^ Law 84 prohibits a revoking side from scoring slam, and 
provides that tricks received by the declarer as penalty for 
a revoke shall not entitle him to a slam not otherwise 
obtained. 



THe La-ws of Axiction 331 

twelve tricks. ^ It counts 50 points in the honour 
score. 

9. The value of honours, slam, or little slam, is 
not affected by doubling or redoubling. 

10. At the end of a rubber the side that has 
won two games scores a bonus of 250 points. 

The trick, honour, and bonus scores of each side 
are then added and the size of the rubber is the 
difference between the respective totals. 

The side having the higher score wins the 
rubber. 

1 1 . When a rubber is started with the agree- 
ment that the play shall terminate {i.e., no new 
deal shall commence) at a specified time, and the 
rubber is unfinished at that hour, the score is 
made up as it stands, 125 being added to the 
score of the winners of a game. A deal if started 
must be finished. 

12. A proved error in the honour score may be 
corrected at any time before the score of the 
rubber has been made up and agreed upon. 

13. A proved error in the trick score may be 
corrected at any time before a declaration has 
been made in the following game, or, if it occur 

^ Law 84 prohibits a revoking side from scoring little 
slam, and provides that tricks received by the declarer as 
penalty for a revoke shall not entitle him to a little slam 
not otherwise obtained. When a declarer bids 7 and takes 
twelve tricks he counts 50 for little slam, although his 
declaration fails. 



33- Complete Aviction Player 

in the final game of the rubber, before the score 
has been made up and agreed upon. 

CUTTING 

14. In cutting the ace is the lowest card; 
between cards of otherwise equal value the spade 
is the lowest, the heart next, the diamond next, 
and the club the highest. 

15. Every player must cut from the same 
pack. 

16. Should a player expose more than one 
eard, the highest is his cut. 

FORMING TABLES 

17. Those first in the room have the prior 
right to play. Candidates of equal standing 
decide their order by cutting; those who cut 
lowest play first. 

18. Six players constitute a complete table. 

19. After the table has been formed, the 
players cut to decide upon partners; the two 
lower play against the two higher. The lowest 
is the dealer, who has choice of cards and seats, 
and, having made his selection, must abide by 
it.^ 

20. The right to succeed players as they retire 
is acquired by announcing the desire to do so, 
and such announcements, in the order made, 
entitle candidates to fill vacancies as they occur. 

^ He may consult his partner before making his decision. 



THe La^ws of A"uction 333 

CUTTING OUT 

21. If, at the end of a rubber, admission be 
claimed by one or two candidates, the player or 
players who have played the greatest number of 
consecutive rubbers withdraw; when all have 
played the same number, they cut to decide 
upon the outgoers ; the highest are out. ^ 

RIGHT OF ENTRY 

22. At the end of a rubber a candidate is not 
entitled to enter a table unless he declare his 
intention before any player cut, either for 
partners, for a new rubber, or for cutting out. 

23. In the formation of new tables candidates 
who have not played at an existing table have 
the prior right of entry. Others decide their 
right to admission by cutting. 

24. When one or more players belonging to 
an existing table aid in making up a new one, 
which cannot be formed without h!m or them, 
he or they shall be the last to cut out. 

25. A player belonging to one table who enters 
another, or announces a desire to do so, forfeits 
his rights at his original table, unless the new 
table cannot be formed without him, in which 
case he may retain his position at his original 
table by announcing his intention to return as 
soon as his place at the new table can be filled. 

^ See Law 14 as to value of cards in cutting. 



334 Complete -AL-uction Player 

26. Should a player leave a table during the 
progress of a rubber, he ma}^ with the consent of 
the three others, appoint a substitute to play 
during his absence; but such appointment 
becomes void upon the conclusion of the rubber, 
and does not in any way affect the rights of the 
substitute. 

27. If a player break up a table, the others 
have a prior right of entry elsewhere. 

SHUFFLING 

28. The pack must not be shufffed below the 
table nor so the face of any card be seen. 

29. The dealer's partner must collect the 
cards from the preceding deal and has the right 
to shuffle first. Each player has the right to 
shufHe subsequently. The dealer has the right 
to shuffle last, but should a card or cards be seen 
during his shuffling or while giving the pack to be 
cut, he must reshuffle. 

30. After shuffling, the cards, properly col- 
lected, must be placed face downward to the 
left of the next dealer, where they must remain 
untouched until the end of the current deal. 

THE DEAL 

31. Players deal in turn; the order of dealing 
is to the left. 

32. Immediately before the deal, the player 



TKe La^ws of Axjction 335 

on the dealer's right cuts, so that each packet 
contains at least four cards. If, in or after 
cutting, and prior to the beginning of the deal, 
a card be exposed, or if any doubt exist as to the 
place of the cut, the dealer must reshuffle and 
the same player must cut again. 

33. After the pack has been properly cut, it 
should not be reshuffled or recut except as 
provided in Law 32. 

34. Should the dealer shuffle after the cut, his 
adversaries may also shuffle and the pack must 
be cut again. 

35. The fifty- two cards must be dealt face 
downward. The deal is completed when the 
last card is dealt. 

36. In the event of a misdeal, the same pack 
must be dealt again by the same player. 

A NEW DEAL 

37. There must be a new deal: 

(a) If the cards be not dealt, beginning at the dealer's 

left, into four packets one at a time and in 

regular rotation. 
(&) If, during a deal, or during the play, the pack be 

proved incorrect. 
{c) If, during a deal, any card be faced in the pack or 

exposed, on, above, or below the table. 
{d) If more than thirteen cards be dealt to any 

player. ^ 

I This error, whenever discovered, renders a new deal 
necessary. 



33^ Complete j\"uction Player 

(e) If the last card do not come in its regular order to 
the dealer. 

(J) If the dealer omit having the pack cut, deal out 
of turn or with the adversaries' cards, and either 
adversary call attention to the fact before the 
end of the deal and before looking at any of his 
cards. 

38. Should a correction of any offence men- 
tioned in 37/ not be made in time, or should an 
adversary who has looked at any of his cards be 
the first to call attention to the error, the deal 
stands, and the game proceeds as if the deal had 
been correct, the player to the left dealing the 
next. When the deal has been with the wrong 
cards, the next dealer may take whichever pack 
he prefers. 

39. If, prior to the cut for the following deal, 
a pack be proved incorrect, the deal is void, but 
all prior scores stand. ^ 

The pack is not incorrect when a missing card 
or cards are found in the other pack, among the 
quitted tricks, below the table, or in any other 
place which makes it possible that such card 
or cards were part of the pack during the deal. 

40. Should three players have their proper 
number of cards, the fourth, less, the missing 
card or cards, if found, belong to him, and he, 
unless dummy, is answerable f jr any established 

^ A correct pack contains exactly fifty-two cards, one 
of each denomination. 



TKe La-ws of -A.\iction 337 

revoke or revokes he may have made just as if 
the missing card or cards had been continuously 
in his hand. When a card is missing, any 
player may search the other pack, the quitted 
tricks, or elsewhere for it.^ 

If before, during, or at the conclusion of play, 
one player hold more than the proper number of 
cards, and another less, the deal is void. 

41. A player may not cut, shuffle, or deal for 
his partner if either adversary object. 

41a. A player may not lift from the table and 
look at any of his cards until the end of the deal. 
The penalty for the violation of this law is 25 
points in the adverse honour score for each card 
so examined. 

THE DECLARATION 

42. The dealer, having examined his hand, 
must either pass or declare to win at least one 
odd trick, ^ either with a specified suit, or at no 
trump. 

43. The dealer having declared or passed, 
each player in turn, beginning on the dealer's 
left, must pass, make a higher declaration, double 



* The fact that a deal is concluded without any claim of 
irregularity shall be deemed as conclusive that such card 
was part of the pack during the deal. 

' One trick more than six. 



33^ Complete Axiction Player 

the last declaration made by an opponent, or 
redouble an opponent's double, subject to the 
provisions of Law 54. 

44. When all four players pass their first 
opportunity to declare, the deal passes to the 
next player. 

45. The order in value of declarations from 
the lowest up is clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades, 
no trump. 

To overcall a declaration, a player must bid, 
either 

(a) An equal number of tricks of a more valuable 

declaration or 

(b) A greater number of tricks. 

-E. g., 3 Spades over 3 diamonds; 5 clubs over 
4 hearts; 4 diamonds over 3 no trump. 

46. A player in his turn may overbid the 
previous adverse declaration any number of 
times, and may also overbid his partner, but he 
cannot overbid his own declaration which has 
been passed by the three others. 

47. The player who makes the final declara- 
tion^ must play the combined hands, his partner 
becoming dummy, unless the suit or no trump 
finally declared was bid by the partner before it 
was called by the final declarer, in which case 

' A declaration becomes final when it has been passed 
by three players. 



TKe La-ws of Auction 339 

the partner, no matter what bids have inter- 
vened, must play the combined hands. 

48. When the player of the two hands (here- 
inafter termed ''the declarer'') wins at least as 
many tricks as he declared, he scores the full 
value of the tricks won (see Law 3).^ 

48a. When the declarer fails to win as many 
tricks as he declares, neither he nor his adver- 
saries score anything toward the game, but his 
adversaries score in their honour column 50 
points for each undertrick {i.e., each trick short 
of the number declared). If the declaration be 
doubled, the adversaries score 100 points; if 
redoubled, 200 points for each undertrick. 

49. If a player make a declaration (other than 
passing) out of turn, either adversary may 
demand a new deal, may treat such declaration 
as void, or may allow such declaration to stand. 
In the latter case the bidding shall continue as 
if the declarations had been in turn. A pass out 
of turn, or a bid declared void does not affect 
the order of bidding, i. e., it is still the turn of the 
player to the left of the previous declarer. The 
player who has bid out of turn may reenter the 
bidding in his proper turn without penalty, but 
if he has passed out of his turn, he may only do so 
in case the declaration he has passed be overbid 
or doubled. 

^ For amount scored by declarer, if doubled, see Laws 
53 and 56. 



340 Complete Aiaction Player 

If a declaration out of turn be made and the 
proper declarer then bid, such bid shall be con- 
strued as an election that the declaration out of 
turn is to be treated as void. 

50. If a pla3'er make an insuflficient declara- 
tion, either adversary may demand that it be 
made suflficient in the declaration named, in 
which case the partner of the declarer may not 
further declare unless an adversary subsequently 
bid or double. 

50a. If a player who has been debarred from 
bidding under Laws 50 or 65, during the period of 
such prohibition, make any declaration (other 
than passing), either adversar}" may decide 
whether such declaration stand, and neither the 
offending player nor his partner may further 
participate in the bidding even if the adversaries 
double or declare. 

50&. A penalty for a declaration out of turn 
(see Law 49), an insufficient declaration (see 
Law 50), or a bid when prohibited (see Law 50a) 
may not be enforced if either adversary pass, 
double, or declare before the penalty be 
demanded.^ 

50c. Laws which give to either adversary the 
right to enforce a penalty, do not permit un- 
limited consultation. Either adversary may 

^ When the penalty for an insufficient declaration is not 
demanded, the bid over which it was made may be repeated 
unless some higher bid has intervened. 



TKe La^ws of Aviction 341 

call attention to the offence and select the 
penalty, or may say, ''Partner, you determine 
the penalty,'* or words to that effect. Any 
other consultation is prohibited,^ and if it take 
place the right to demand any penalty is lost. 
The first decision made by either adversary is 
final and cannot be altered. 

51. At any time during the declaration, a 
question asked by a player concerning any 
previous bid must be answered, but, after the 
final declaration has been accepted, if an adver- 
sary of the declarer inform his partner regarding 
any previous declaration, the declarer may call 
a lead from the adversary whose next turn it is 
to lead. If the dummy give such information to 
the declarer, either adversary of the declarer 
may call a lead when it is the next turn of the 
declarer to lead from either hand. A player, 
however, at any time may ask what declaration 
is being played and the question must be 
answered. 

52. A pass or double once made may not be 
altered. 

No declaration may be altered after the next 
player acts. 

Before action by the next player a no trump or 
suit declaration may be changed 

^ The question, " Partner, will you select the penalty, or 
shall I?" is a form of consultation which is not permitted. 
22 



342 Complete -A\iction Player 

(a) To correct the amount of an insufficient bid. 

(&) To correct the denomination but not the size of 
a bid in which, due to a lapsus Ungues, a suit 
or no trump has been called which the de- 
clarer did not intend to name. 

No other alteration may be made. 

DOUBLING AND REDOUBLING 

53. Doubling and redoubling doubles and 
quadruples the value of each trick over six, but it 
does not alter the value of a declaration; e, g., b. 
declaration of ^^ three clubs'* is higher than 
'Hwo spades" doubled or redoubled. 

54. Any declaration may be doubled and 
redoubled once, but not more; a player may not 
double his partner's declaration, nor redouble 
his partner's double, but he may redouble a 
declaration of his partner which has been 
doubled by an adversary. 

The penalty for redoubling more than once is 
100 points in the adverse honour score or a new 
deal; for doubling a partner's declaration, or 
redoubling a partner's double it is 50 points in 
the adverse honour score. Either adversary may 
demand any penalty enforceable under this law. 

55. Doubling or redoubling reopens the bid- 
ding. When a declaration has been doubled or 
redoubled, any one of the three succeeding 
players, including the player whose declaration 



THe Lai?vs of AuictioA^ 343 

has been doubled, may, in his proper turn, make 
a further declaration of higher value. 

56. When a player whose declaration has 
been doubled wins the declared number of tricks, 
he scores a bonus of 50 points in his honour score, 
and a further 50 points for each additional trick. 
When he or his partner has redoubled, he scores 
100 points for making the contract and an addi- 
tional 100 for each extra trick. 

57. A double or redouble is a declaration, and 
a player who doubles or redoubles out of turn is 
subject to the penalty provided by Law 49. 

58. After the final declaration has been 
accepted, the play begins; the player on the left 
of the declarer leads. 

DUMMY^ 

59. As soon as the player on the left of the 
declarer leads, the declarer's partner places his 
cards face upward on the table, and the declarer 
plays the cards from that hand. 

60. The partner of the declarer has all the 
rights of a player (including the right, to call 
attention to a lead from the wrong hand), until 
his cards are placed face upward on the table. ^ 
He then becomes the dummy, and takes no part 
whatever in the play, except that he has the 
right: 

^ For additional laws affecting dummy see 51 and 93. 
^ The penalty is determined by the declarer (see Law 66). 



344 Complete -A.\iction Player 

(a) To call the declarer's attention to the fact that 
too many or too few cards have been played 
to a trick; 

(&) to correct an improper claim of either adversary ; 

(c) to call attention to a trick erroneously taken 

by either side; 

(d) to participate in the discussion of any disputed 

question of fact after it has arisen between 
the declarer and either adversary; 

(e) to correct an erroneous score; 

(/) to consult with and advise the declarer as to 
which penalty to exact for a revoke; 

(g) to ask the declarer whether he have any of a 
suit he has renounced. 

The dummy, if he have not intentionall)^ 
looked at any card in the hand of a player, has 
also the following additional rights : 

(h) To call the attention of the declarer to an es- 
tablished adverse revoke; 

{{) to call the attention of the declarer to a card 
exposed by an adversary or to an adverse 
lead out of turn. 

6i. Should the dummy call attention to any 
other incident in the play in consequence of 
which any penalty might have been exacted, the 
declarer may not exact such penalty. Should 
the dummy avail himself of rights (h) or (i), 
after intentionally looking at a card in the hand 
of a player, the declarer may not exact any 
penalty for the offence in question. 

62. If the dummy, by touching a card or 



TKe La^ws of Axjction 345 

otherwise, suggest the play of one of his cards, 
either adversary may require the declarer to 
play or not to play such card. 

62a. If the dummy call to the attention of 
the declarer that he is about to lead from the 
wrong hand, either adversary may require that 
the lead be made from that hand. 

63. Dummy is not subject to the revoke 
penalty; if he revoke and the error be not dis- 
covered until the trick be turned and quitted, 
whether by the rightful winners or not, the 
revoke may not be corrected. 

64. A card from the declarer's hand is not 
played until actually quitted, but should he name 
or touch a card in the dummy, such card is 
played unless he say, ^*I arrange,** or words to 
that effect. If he simultaneously touch two or 
more such cards, he may elect which to play. 

CARDS EXPOSED BEFORE PLAY 

65. After the deal and before the declaration 
has been finally determined, if any player lead 
or expose a card, his partner may not thereafter 
bid or double during that declaration,^ and the 
card, if it belong to an adversary of the eventual 
declarer, is subject to call.^ When the partner 
of the offending player is the original leader, the 

* See Law 50a. 

• If more than one card be exposed, all may be called. 



346 Complete j\"uction Player 

declarer may also prohibit the initial lead of the 
suit of the exposed card. 

66. After the final declaration has been ac- 
cepted and before the lead, if the partner of 
the proper leader expose or lead a card, the 
declarer may treat it as exposed or may call a 
suit from the proper leader. A card exposed 
by the leader, after the final declaration and 
before the lead, is subject to call. 

CARDS EXPOSED DURING PLAY 

67. After the original lead, all cards exposed 
by the declarer's adversaries are liable to be 
called and must be left face upward on the table. 

68. The following are exposed cards: 

(i) Two or more cards played simultaneously; 

(2) a card dropped face upward on the table, even 

though snatched up so quickly that it cannot 
be named; 

(3) a card so held by a player that his partner sees 

any portion of its face; 

(4) a card mentioned by either adversary as being 

held in his or his partner's hand. 

69. A card dropped on the floor or elsewhere 
below the table, or so held that it is seen by an 
adversary but not by the partner, is not an 
exposed card. 

70. Two or more cards played simultaneously 



TKe La^ws of Auction 347 

by either of the declarer's adversaries give the 
declarer the right to call any one of such cards 
to the current trick and to treat the other card 
or cards as exposed. 

70a. Should an adversary of the declarer 
expose his last card before his partner play to 
the twelfth trick, the two cards in his partner's 
hand become exposed, must be laid face upward 
on the table, and are subject to call. 

71. If, without waiting for his partner to play, 
either of the declarer's adversaries play or lead a 
winning card, as against the declarer and dummy, 
and continue (without waiting for his partner 
to play) to lead several such cards, the declarer 
may demand that the partner of the player in 
fault win, if he can, the first or any other of these 
tricks. The other cards thus improperly played 
are exposed. 

72. If either or both of the declarer's adver- 
saries throw his or their cards face upward on 
the table, such cards are exposed and liable to 
be called; but if either adversary retain his hand, 
he cannot be forced to abandon it. Cards 
exposed by the declarer are not liable to be called. 
If the declarer say, ^'I have the rest," or any 
words indicating the remaining tricks or any 
number thereof are his, he may be required to 
place his cards face upward on the table. He is 
not then allowed to call any cards his adversaries 
may have exposed, nor to take any finesse not 



348 Complete Auction Player 

previously proven a winner unless he announce 
it when making his claim. 

73. If a player who has rendered himself liable 
to have the highest or lowest of a suit called 
(Laws 80, 86, and 92) fail to play as directed, or if, 
when called on to lead one suit, he lead another, 
having in his hand one or more cards of the suit 
demanded (Laws 66, 76, and 93), or if, when 
called upon to win or lose a trick, he fail to do so 
when he can (Laws 71, 80, and 92), or if, when 
called upon not to play a suit, he fail to play as 
directed (Laws 65 and 66), he is liable to the 
penalty for revoke (Law 84) unless such play be 
corrected before the trick be turned and quitted. 

74. A pla3'er cannot be compelled to play a 
card which would oblige him to revoke. 

75. The call of an exposed card may be re- 
peated until it be played. 

LEADS OUT OF TURN 

76. If either adversary of the declarer lead 
out of turn, the declarer may either treat the 
card so led as exposed or may call a suit as soon 
as it is the turn of either adversary to lead. 
Should they lead simultaneously, the lead from 
the proper hand stands, and the other card is 
exposed. 

77. If the declarer lead out of turn, either 
from his own hand or dummy, he incurs no 



TKe La-ws of -A.\iction 349 

penalty, but he may not rectify the error unless 
directed to do so by an adversary. ^ If the second 
hand play, the lead is accepted. 

78. If an adversary of the declarer lead out of 
turn, and the declarer follow either from his own 
hand or dummy, the trick stands. If the de- 
clarer before playing refuse to accept the lead, 
the leader may be penalized as provided in Law 
76. 

79. If a player called on to lead a suit have 
none of it, the penalty is paid. 

CARDS PLAYED IN ERROR 

80. Should the fourth hand, not being dummy 
or declarer, play before the second, the latter 
raay be required to play his highest or lowest 
card of the suit led, or to win or lose the trick. 
In such case, if the second hand be void of the 
suit led, the declarer in lieu of any other penalty 
may call upon the second hand to play the 
highest card of any designated suit. If he name 
a suit of which the second hand is void, the 
penalty is paid.^ 

81. If any one, except dummy, omit playing 

^The rule in Law 50c as to consultations governs the 
right of adversaries to consult as to whether such direction 
be given. 

2 Should the declarer play third hand before the second 
hand, the fourth hand may without penalty play before his 
partner. 



35^ Complete Aiaction Player 

to a trick, and such error be not corrected until 
he has played to the next, the adversaries or 
either of them may claim a new deal; should 
either decide that the deal stand, the surplus 
card (at the end of the hand) is considered 
played to the imperfect trick, but does not 
constitute a revoke therein.^ 

82. When any one, except dummy, plays two 
or more cards to the same trick and the mistake 
is not corrected, he is answerable for any conse- 
quent revokes he may make. When the error is 
detected during the play, the tricks may be 
counted face downward, to see if any contain 
more than four cards; should this be the case, 
the trick which contains a surplus card or cards 
may be examined and such card or cards re- 
stored to the original holder. ^ 

THE REVOKES 

83. A revoke occurs when a player, other than 
dummy, holding one or more cards of the suit 
led, plays a card of a different suit. It becomes 
an established revoke when the trick in which it 
occurs is turned and quitted by the rightful 
winners (i.^., the hand removed from the trick 

^ As to the right of adversaries to consult, see Law 50c. 

^ Either adversary may decide which card shall be con- 
sidered played to the trick which contains more than four 
cards. ^ See Law 73. 



TKe La-ws of -A.'uction 351 

after it has been turned face downward on the 
table) , or when either the revoking player or his 
partner, whether in turn or otherwise, leads or 
plays to the following trick. 

84. The penalty for each established revoke 
is: 

(a) When the declarer revokes, he cannot score for 
tricks and his adversaries add 100 points to 
their score in the honour column, in addition 
to any penalty which he may have incurred 
for not making good his declaration. 

(5) When either of the adversaries revokes, the de- 
clarer may either add 100 points to his score 
in the honour column or take three tricks from 
his opponents and add them to his own.* 
Such tricks may assist the declarer to make 
good his declaration, but shall not entitle 
him to score any bonus in the honour column 
in case the declaration has been doubled or 
redoubled, nor to a slam or little slam not 
otherwise obtained. ^ 

(c) When, during the play of a deal, more than one 
revoke is made by the same side, the penalty 
for each revoke after the first is 100 points. 

The value of their honours is the only score 
that can be made by a revoking side. 

85. A player may ask his partner if he have a 
card of the suit which he has renounced; should 

^ The dummy may advise the declarer which penalty to 
exact. 

2 The value of the three tricks, doubled or redoubled, as 
the case may be, is counted in the trick score. 



352 Complete Aviction Player 

the question be asked before the trick be turned 
and quitted, subsequent turning and quitting 
does not establish a revoke, and the error may be 
corrected unless the question be answered in the 
negative, or unless the revoking player or his 
partner have led or played to the following trick. 

85a. Should the dummy leave the table during 
the play, he may ask his adversaries to protect 
him from revokes during his absence; such 
protection is generally called ''the courtesies 
of the table " or "the courtesies due an absentee.'* 

If he make such request the penalty may not 
be enforced or a revoke made b}" the declarer 
during the dummy's absence unless in due 
season an adversar}- have asked the declarer 
whether he have a card of the suit he has 
renounced. 

86. If a player correct his mistake in time to 
save a revoke, any player or players who have 
followed him may withdraw his or their cards 
and substitute others, and the cards so with- 
drawn are not exposed. If the player in fault 
be one of the declarer's adversaries, the card 
played in error is exposed, and the declarer may 
call it whenever he pleases, or he may require the 
offender to play his highest or lowest card of the 
suit to the trick. 

86a. If the player in fault be the declarer, 
either adversary may require him to play the 
hio:hest or lowest card of the suit in which he has 



The Laivs of A\iction 353 

renounced, provided both his adversaries have 
played to the current trick; but this penalty 
may not be exacted from the declarer when he is 
fourth in hand, nor can it be enforced at all from 
the dummy. 

87. At the end of the play the claimants of a 
revoke may search all the tricks. If the cards 
have been mixed, the claim may be urged and 
proved if possible ; but no proof is necessary and 
the claim is established if, after it is made, the 
accused player or his partner mix the cards 
before they have been sufficiently examined by 
the adversaries. 

88. A revoke cannot be claimed after the 
cards have been cut for the following deal. 

89. Should both sides revoke, the only score 
permitted is for honours. In such case, if one 
side revoke more than once, the penalty of 100 
points for each extra revoke is scored by the 
other side. 

GENERAL LAWS 

90. A trick turned and quitted may not be 
looked at (except under Law 82) until the end 
of the play. The penalty for the violation of 
this law is 25 points in the adverse honour score. 

91. Any player during the play of a trick or 
after the four cards are played, and before the 
trick is turned and quitted, may demand that 

23 



354 Complete Aviction Player 

the cards be placed before their respective 
players. 

92. When an adversar}' of the declarer, before 
his partner plays, calls attention to the trick, 
either by saying it is his, or, without being re- 
quested to do so, by naming his card or drawing 
it toward him, the declarer may require such 
partner to play his highest or lowest card of the 
suit led, or to win or lose the trick. 

93. An adversary of the declarer may call his 
partner's attention to the fact that he is about 
to play or lead out of turn; but if, dining the 
play, he make any unauthorized reference to any 
incident of the play, the declarer may call a suit 
from the adversary whose next turn it is to lead. 
If the dnminy similarly oflEend, either adversary 
may call a lead when it is the next tiirn of the 
declarer to lead from either hand. 

94. In all cases where a penalty has been 
incurred, the offender is bound to give reasonable 
time for the decision of his adversaries. 

NEW CARDS 

95. Unless a pack be imperfect, no player has 
the right to call for one new pack. When fresh 
cards are demanded, two packs must be fur- 
nished. When they are produced during a 
rubber, the adversaries of the player demanding 
them have the choice of the new cards. If it be 
the beginning of a new rubber, the dealer, 



TTKe La^ws of -AL-uction 355 

whether he or one of his adversaries call for the 
new cards, has the choice. New cards cannot 
be substituted after the pack has been cut for a 
new deal. 

96. A card or cards torn or marked must be 
replaced by agreement or new cards furnished. 

BYSTANDERS 

97. While a bystander, by agreement among 
the players, may decide any question, he should 
not say anything unless appealed to; and if he 
make any remark which calls attention to an 
oversight affecting the score, or to the exaction 
of a penalty, he is liable to be called upon by 
the players to pay the stakes (not extras) lost. 

ETIQUETTE OF AUCTION 

In the game of Auction slight intimations 
convey much information. The code succinctly 
states laws which fix penalties for an offence. 
To offend against etiquette is far more serious 
than to offend against a law; for in the latter 
case the offender is subject to the prescribed 
penalties; in the former his adversaries are 
without redress. 

I. Declarations should be made in a simple 
manner, thus: *'one heart,'' ''one no trump," 
''pass,'' "double"; they should be made orally 
and not by gesture. 



35^ Complete Axiction Player 

2. Aside from his legitimate declaration, a 
player should not show by word or gesture the 
nature of his hand, or his pleasure or displeasure 
at a play, bid, or double. 

3. If a player demand that the cards be placed, 
he should do so for his own information and not 
to call his partner's attention to any card or 
play. 

4. An opponent of the declarer should not 
lead until the preceding trick has been turned 
and quitted; nor, after having led a winning 
card, should he draw another from his hand 
before his partner has played to the current 
trick. 

5. A card should not be played with such 
emphasis as to draw attention to it, nor should 
a player detach one card from his hand and sub- 
sequently play another. 

6. A player should not purposely incur a 
penalty because he is willing to pay it, nor 
should he make a second revoke to conceal a 
first. 

7. Conversation during the play should be 
avoided, as it may annoy players at the table 
or at other tables in the room. 

8. The dummy should not leave his seat to 
watch his partner play. He should not call 
attention to the score nor to any card or cards 
that he or the other players hold. 

9. If a player say, "I have the rest,'' or any 



TKe La^vs of -A.\Jction 357 

words indicating that the remaining tricks, or 
any number thereof, are his, and one or both 
of the other players expose his or their cards, or 
request him to play out the hand, he should not 
allow any information so obtained to influence 
his play. 

10. If a player concede, in error, one or more 
tricks, the concession should stand. 

11. A player having been cut out of one 
table should not seek admission in another unless 
willing to cut for the privilege of entry. 



APPENDIX 

NULLOS 

NuLLOS are, at the time of this writing, 
generally abandoned ; it may be temporarily, 
it may be permanently. Many players are 
still using them; thousands are mourning 
for them; the game needs them; but official 
recognition is withheld. 

Even nulio-lovers never asked that nuUos 
should be an inseparable part of the game. 
They merely wanted them elective, — to be 
voted in, or out, at each sitting. 

Nullos were admitted, even by their de- 
tractors, to be one of the most scientific 
adjuncts Auction had ever received. Also, 
they are fascinating ; and the most wonderful 
balance is given the game by their use. Their 
fairness is their great point. 

Since they have been developed into a 
science by those who loved them, and since 
their reappearance is by no means uncertain, 
it is fitting that a record of them be kept. 

359 



360 Complete -A.'uction Player 

These are the things which brought about 
the disuse of nuUos : 

1st. They could not be acquired without 
hard study, even by the best of players. 
Very few skilful players were willing to go 
back and study a new thing. 

2nd, Their difficulty. Even though you 
could play them yourself, your partner was 
too apt to let you in for heavy losses. 

3rd, Gamblers don't want luck killed. 

4th, There are politics in cards, as in 
everything else. If they bade the slaughter 
of nuUos, nuUos would have to be slaughtered. 

But it was amusing to hear the sudden 
solicitude for the *' weak players who couldn't 
handle nullos. " Those who had heretofore 
looked upon weak players as nothing but 
bores or '* easy-marks, " suddenly became 
concerned about them exclusively. 

No one ever wanted the weak players to be 
forced to swallow nuUos. They couldn't, 
and it was not necessary. But, the fact 
remains that the game still holds many 
dangerous tools from which no one ever 
dreams of protecting the weak. 

I will condense, as much as possible the 
greatest of the nuUo-principles. And I shall 
write of nuUos at eight a trick, — ''eight 



Appendix 361 

under hearts.'* That proved to be their 
only perfect value and there is no use in 
opening again the discussion of nuUos-at- 
eight, or nuUos-at-ten. 

NuUos are negative no-trumpers ; the 
object of every player is to take as few tricks 
as possible; they are worth eight a trick for 
every trick named in the contract, and an 
extra eight for every trick under the contract. 
The adversaries score fifty for every trick 
over the contract that they can force upon the 
declarant. The honours are the aces, and 
score inversely. Though nuUos and hearts 
count the same, the hearts outrank in bid- 
ding. 

The player who gets the bid at *'one nuUo'' 
is safe if he takes but six tricks; he scores 
eight for the odd that he fails to take, and an 
extra eight for every trick under six. If he 
bids ''two nuUos *' he may take but five tricks ; 
by so doing, he scores sixteen, and an extra 
eight for every trick under five. If he bids 
*' three nuUos, '' he may take but four tricks; 
by so doing, he scores twenty-four, and an 
extra eight for every trick under four. 

It is the exact opposite of no-trump. When 
you bid *'one no-trump, " you are safe if you 
take seven tricks, or more: when you bid *'one 



362 Complete Axiction Player 

nuUo/' you are safe if you take six tricks ^ or 
less. 

The two hands must fit. When they are 
found to be a misfit, nullos must he dropped. 

A positive hand may easily be strong enough 
to stand alone. No negative hand can ever 
stand alone. It might, if the partner's hand 
were to be thrown out ; but it can never do so 
when that hand is to be played. 

If you have a very good heart-hand ( or a 
spade-hand, or a no-trumper) , it doesn't 
matter one atom what your partner holds; 
your cards will take the tricks, no matter what 
he plays. 

But if you have even an ideally perfect nuUo- 
hand, it matters tremendously what your part- 
ner holds ; your cards cannot lose tricks unless 
his cards lose them over again. Unless every 
trick is twice-lost, it is not lost at all ; it is won. 

And there you have the difficulty of nullos, 
in a nutshell. A trick is won with one card ; it 
must be lost with two. It won't do you a 
particle of good to lose every trick in your own 
handy if you have to take every trick in dummy. 

Therefore : 

Never insist on nullos with an obviously 
iinwilling partner. 



Appendix 363 

Give that partner a chance to tell you 
whether he is willing or unwilling. 

Remember that " pass " from his lips, 
doesn't always mean: "I am pleased with 
your bid." It may well mean : "Your bid is 
most unwelcome to me, but I have no way to 
tell you so." 

For nuUo purposes, the pack of cards is di- 
vided into three groups, — high, intermediate, 
and low. 

The high cards are the aces and faces; the 
intermediate cards are the tens, nines, eights, 
sevens, and sixes, and are the most dangerous 
cards in the pack ; and the low cards are the 
fives, fours, treys, and deuces. Therefore, 
there are but sixteen low cards. 

The ideal nuUo-hand is not made up ex- 
clusively of low cards; it is a mixed hand, — 
high cards well guarded with low ones, and 
(preferably) holding the deuce of any long suit. 

The best nuUo-hand looks like a first 
cousin to a no-trumper; with the difference, 
however, that singletons and blank suits are 
the greatest asset in nuUos. 

When I speak of a ''guarded suit, '' I mean 
a suit that holds at least one card lower than 
the six. 



364 Complete A-uction Player 

The original nullo-bidder may bid nuUos 
with one unguarded suit; just as you cannot 
bid no-trumps with two unguarded suits, so 
you cannot bid nullos. This rule may, how- 
ever, be broken in the case of a singleton. 
An original nullo-bid may be made with one 
unguarded suit, or with two, provided the second 
one is a singleton. 

If you hold a good nuUo-hand except for one 
poor suit, it is better for you to have that suit 
held on your right, than on your left. You are 
safer to play after it than before it. 

The original nullo-bidder may bid two nullos 
unaided, but never three. 

One nuUo is extremely easy to make, even 
with a bad dummy. Therefore, the partner of 
the one-nullo bidder need not be concerned 
about making an over-call unless he possesses 
a perfectly good suit with which to do it. 
Neither need he regard his partner's nuUo- 
call as a necessary denial of help to a good 
hand. 

The nuUo-raiser must have no unguarded 
suit, unless it be a singleton. 

The Deuce in Nullos 

What the ace is to no-trumps, the deuce is 
to nullos. The ace is the one sure taker; the 



Appendix 365 

deuce is the one sure loser. In no-trumps, if 
you hold the ace of a suit (whether as declar- 
ant or as adversary), — you '* command'' the 
suit, — and nothing would induce you to give 
up that command too quickly; in nuUos, if 
you hold the deuce of a suit (whether as 
declarant or adversary), you equally ^'com- 
mand'' the suit. Again, you must be careful 
not to give up your command too early in the 
game. 

The deuce is of incalculable value to either 
side, at any point of the game ; but it grows con- 
stantly more valuable as the game progresses. 
Particularly should a prospective nuUo- 
dummy be concerned regarding the deuce 
of any long suit he may chance to hold! 

In the hand of the declarant, a very long 
suit is valuable, even if its lowest card is the 
trey, — or even the four; this is because the 
adversaries cannot see his hand. But the 
hand of the dummy is exposed and at their 
niercy. Any long suit should run to the 
deuce, to be safe. 

A long suit, exposed on the board, should hold 
its deuce. Lacking its deuce, but holding its ace, 
there should be one strong side-card in the hand. 
Lacking both deuce and ace of a long exposed 
suit, the hand should hold two strong side-cards. 



366 Complete -A.\iction Player 

These cards should be guarded once, at least, by 
a sure loser. 

*'Get-outry'' is as necessary to niillos as 
''re-entry" to no-trumps. ''Exit-cards" are 
the most desirable things in the world; and 
the surest exit-card is the deuce, — unless it 
happens to be a thirteener. Then, of course, 
it is as much a taker as is an ace. 

Of the various opening nuUo-leads, the 
singleton is the best. Any singleto7i (save the 
deuce and the tre}") is better than any other 
possible lead; but a high or intermediate 
singleton makes a better opening lead than a 
low singleton because, while the declarant 
may be enabled to get rid of two dangerous 
cards on your lead, you, yourself, will not 
wish you had it back, later in the hand. 

A doubleton, with the second card a sure 
loser, is a good lead. 

If you have no proper singleton or double- 
ton lead, an excellent opening lead is an inter- 
mediate card of a long mixed suit. It should 
be your third lowest (the third card begin- 
ning at the bottom and counting upwards). 

To Play NuUos 

The declarant's first business, when 
dummy goes down, is to count the sequences, 



A^ppendix 367 

or near-sequences, between the two hands, — 
beginning with the deuce and counting upwards. 
Let him note the cards he lacks. 

If the declarant is afraid of any one card, he 
should get it. He should lead that suit till 
that card falls. This is particularly true of an 
adverse deuce that is provokingly held up. 

Play touching cards from the two hands. If 
you play a ten from dummy, and a nine 
from your own hand, no one can get in 
between them. The adversaries have either 
to take the trick or to use up two good 
duckers. If, on the contrary, you play a jack 
from one hand and a nine from the other, one 
adversary can play a ''between-card'' (the 
ten), and the other can duck. Only one 
ducker drawn instead of two, — and the throw 
of a very embarrassing card, — all because 
your cards didn't touch. 

Sequence-holding, sequence-count, and se- 
quence-play are the great nullo secrets. 

Don't be in too great a hurry to take 
adverse intermediate cards. 

Senseless taking is as bad as senseless duck- 
ing. Have a reason for everything you do. 

Never forget a card ; never speak while play- 
ing a nuUo-hand ; you simply cannot afford to. 
Never forget to notice just what cards are 



368 Complete -A."Uction Player 

held against you and to calculate what can 
happen if they are together — or separated. 

A good nuUo-plan for both declarant and 
adversary is *' middle play/' When you 
don't know what to do, play a *' middle*' card 
(one that leaves you with both higher and 
lower cards) and you will be apt to be 
right. 

The declarant should keep all of dummy's 
suits guarded as long as possible; he should 
always be glad to ''duck" a dangerous card 
like the nine or the jack — w^hen played by the 
adversary — particularly if he can get rid of a 
card like the eight or the ten and still keep a 
guard in the suit. 

The declarant should generally do most of 
his necessary taking early in the hand, but 
he should not regard all aces and kings as 
necessary takers. If they are sufficiently well 
guarded they will never take. 

If the declarant should find himself ''up 
against it" with an impossible nuUo-hand, — 
a hand that admits of no skill or finesse, — he 
should simply duck as often as possible. 
Every duck saves him fifty, or a hundred. 

The discard in nuUos calls for great acumen. 
You should always discard your most danger- 
ous card, — but that isn't necessarily your 



Appendix 369 

highest. It is often necessary to hold on to an 
ace and to discard an eight or a seven. 

A cross-discard is as valuable in nuUos as is 
a cross-ruff in any declared trump, but you 
cannot work it quite as successfully because 
you would have to continue to take tricks in 
order to lead a suit from one hand, discard 
on it from the other, and then reverse the 
process. Simply, your cross-discard hampers 
the adversary horribly in his play (there are 
two suits he doesn't want to lead), and gives 
you wonderful chances to get rid of embar- 
rassing cards. 

When the adversaries are the ones to hold a 
cross-discard, the declarant is the one to be 
hampered. No one wants to give his adversary 
valuable discards, if he can avoid it. 

It is not always policy to throw a high card 
and to keep a low one. Particularly in those 
cases where one of the declarant's hands is 
dangerous and the other is harmless, it is 
nearly always desirable to keep a high card in 
the harmless hand. In proof of this, let me 
show you a wonderful eight-card nuUo- 
problem seuo me by a reader who signed 

himself "A. F." 

24 



370 Complete A\iction Player 





^ 


J7 






* 











AJ65 






♦ 


Q4 




^ 10 8 65 




Y 


9 — 


♦ — 


A 


B 


4t S765 


10 7 






KQ2 


4 85 




Z 


♦ 9 




^ 


2 






4k 


42 









943 






♦ 


62 





Z is playing **five nullos/' on almost im- 
possible ^ve-nullo material. He was the 
victim of his partner's bidding, that partner 
ha\'ing raised the bid to '* three/' to '*fonr/' 
to '*five. '' Thanks to extremely clever play- 
ing, *'A. F/' made his bid. He has lost the 
first four rounds, and has just taken the fifth 
in his own hand. He must therefore lead, 
and may take but one more trick. 

Permit me to point out that if '* A. F. '' had 
played nullos as half the worid plays them he 
would never have made five. He would have 
gone on the principle that ''as high cards 
must take anyhow, they may as well do it 
first as last. '' He would have taken with the 



-A.ppenclix 371 

qu^en of spades, probably with the jack of 
hearts ; he might have led his ace of diamonds, 
throwing his nine, and permitting B to throw 
king and A the ten. He would have taken 
another diamond-round later. 

Just look, I pray you, at all the high cards 
that lay exposed in that dummy, and that 
never took tricks — thanks to the skill of the 
man who played Z. 

Z leads a club, discarding dummy's jack 
of hearts, and forcing the trick on B. B's 
. best lead is another club, even though it gives 
dummy another discard. It will exhaust Z's 
clubs, and prevent his throwing B in, later 
in the hand. On this second club-lead 
dummy must discard the heart-seven, in 
order to unblock hearts for Z's deuce, and 
prepare the way for a spade discard when 
hearts are led. (The queen of spades is a 
much higher card than the seven of hearts, 
but it would make a fatal discard.) 

B still holds the lead. He leads his single- 
ton spade, Z ducking in both hands. B's 
next aim is to unblock diamonds, so as to 
throw dummy in, at the end of the hand. 
To that end, he leads his king. Any nullo 
aimateur, in Z's place, would throw the nine, 
because it is his highest card. This Z doesn*t. 



372 Complete A."Uction Player 

He holds up his nine, because when he gets 
caught on the third diamond-round he would 
rather he caught in his own hand than in 
dummy. If he lets dummy take the last 
diamond-round, dummy will also take every 
remaining trick, five in all — a defeat of three 
tricks (300 points) for Z. 

Z holds up his nine of diamonds, throwing 
his own four and dummy's jack onto B's king. 
B takes the round. B leads the queen of 
diamonds, Z throwing his own trey and 
dummy's six. B takes the round. 

B leads the deuce of diamonds. Z takes 
with his own nine, throwing dummy's five. 
He then leads the deuce of hearts. A is forced 
to take, because Z has already discarded 
dummy's seven. Z throws dummy's queen 
of spades on the heart-round, and never takes 
another trick. 

I pray you to remember this lesson : With 
a dangerous dummy, unblock the suits, so as to 
take the final round in the low hand. Retain 
a taking card in the hand that holds *'exit" 
cards rather than in the hand that does not. 

For the Adversary 

The adversary's play against a nuUo should 
be guided by dummy, by his partner's 



Appendix 373 

signals and discards, and by his own hand. 
He should' rarely lose an opportunity to 
give his partner a discard for which he has 
asked. 

If an adversary holds a bad suit, with but 
one ducker, it is generally better to save that 
ducker for the last. Holding ace-king-four 
of any suit, and seeing that suit led by 
partner or declarant, it is the best plan to save 
the low card, nine cases out of ten. 

The adversaries should avoid giving 
dummy a discard or establishing a discard 
for dummy by leading up to a singleton. 

The adversaries should notice what suit the 
declarant fears, and should lead that suit to 
him. Signs of fear are discard and avoidance. 
In the former case (discard) , either adversary 
may lead the suit; in the latter case (avoid- 
ance) , the suit is preferably led by the adver- 
sary who can lead through the declarant. 
The declarant should not be permitted to play 
last, on a suit which he is palpably avoiding. 

A good easy point for adversaries to 
remember is that so many ducks will defeat the 
bid. If the declarant is playing four nullos, 
he can afford to take but three tricks. If both 
adversaries can duck four rounds, they can 
defeat him. And so on with other bids. 



374 Complete Auction Player 

This is a primitive sort of rule, but a very 
useful one. 

Condensed NuUo Hints 

Don't think every poor hand is a nullo- 
hand. 

Even suit-distribution is a drawback. 
Very long suits and very short (or blank) 
suits are advantages. 

A long exposed suit should hold its deuce. 
Lacking its deuce and holding its ace, the 
hand is safe with one strong side-card. Lack- 
ing both ace and deuce, two strong side-cards 
are necessary to safety. 

Don't be too much afraid of aces and too 
little afraid of sevens and eights. All middle 
cards must be guarded as carefully as must 
aces and kings ; they are equally dangerous. 

The line between a nullo and a no-trump 
is often very vague. 

If the dealer passes, his partner should not 
bid nullos. A passing hand is a bad nullo- 
assist. Also, it holds no bid with which to 
warn from nullos. 

Nullos may be bid against any one-bid 
from partner. Never, however, against a 
legitimate two-bid. 



Appendix 375 

It takes a better nullo hand to raise nullos 
than to bid them. Dummy shows. 

A player who has once been called off from 
nullos by his partner should never return to 
them. He should also regard his partner's 
*^pass*^ as a danger signal; a '^pass'* and a 
''call-off'' should both be a warning to drop 
nullos. 

Don't forget that nullos are played with 
twenty-six cards, not with thirteen; therefore 
don't bid them too high on your own hand 
alone,* or your partner may prove your ruin. 
Don't forget that nullos are defeated by 
twenty-six cards, and not by thirteen; there- 
fore, be wary of doubling them. While your 
hand may be a defeating hand, your partner 
may take every trick. 

Every player should seek discards for 
himself, and try to prevent his adversary 
from getting them. 

The secret of nullos is '^ middle-play" for 
both declarant and adversary. When you 
don't know what to do, play a *' middle" 
card (one that leaves you with both higher 
and lower cards in the same suit) , and you 
will be apt to be right. 

In no-trumps, it is a mistake to play out all 
your aces and kings in the beginning, though 



376 Complete A\iction Player 

all novices do it. In nullos, it is an equal 
mistake to play out all your deuces and treys 
in the beginning, though all novices certainly 
do it. The nearer a hand approaches its end, 
the more useftd does a deuce become, to both 
declarant and adversaiy^. Keep all suits well 
guarded by low cards, and keep plentj^ of 
•'get -out" cards, especially in duTnmy. 

In no-trumps, if you hold the ace of an ad- 
versary's suit, you command that suit, — 
don't give up that command too soon in the 
hand. In nullos, if you hold the deuce of an 
adversaria's suit you equally command that 
suit, — again, don't give up that command too 
soon. 

If the declarant can be harmed by any par- 
ticular card, he should lead that suit till he 
draws that card. If you are afraid of a card, 
get it ! 

The declarant should count his sequences 
between the two hands in ever}' suit. Se- 
quences are plate-armour ; ever}' break in the 
sequence is a joint in the plate. 

The declarant should keep all of dummy's 
suits guarded as long as possible. He should 
always be glad to '' duck '' as dangerous a card 
as the jack, or the nine (when led by the 
adversary), particularly if he can get rid of a 



Appendix 377 

card like the ten, or the eight, and still keep 
a guard in the suit. 

The declarant should do most of his neces- 
sary taking, early in the hand; but he should 
not regard all high cards as necessary takers. 
If sufficiently well-guarded, they need never 
take. 

The adversaries should avoid giving 
dummy a discard, or establishing a discard 
for dummy by leading up to a singleton. If 
dummy holds a singleton king, and no blank 
suit on which to discard it, don't be in too 
much of a hurry to lead up to that king. It 
can always be made to take. Hammer 
dummy's other vulnerable point first. 

If the declarant gets a discard, the adver- 
saries should come in immediately and lead 
the suit from which he is discarding. It is cer- 
tainly the suit of which he is most afraid. 

The best opening-lead against nullos is a 
singleton. After that comes a certain type of 
doubleton. A doubleton lead is desirable 
only when the second of the two cards is a 
sure loser. By leading an ace and then a six 
(a ^^high'' card followed by an "inter- 
mediate*' card), you give the declarant a 
chance to get rid of two dangerous high cards 
on your first lead, and to " duck " your second 



378 Complete Auction Player 

lead in both hands. You take both rounds 
and leave him better oflf than he was before. 

The next-best lead is an intermediate card 
from a long mixed suit. Your partner may be 
short where you are long; also, you retain low 
cards in the suit for later deadly work. 

A low card from a series of low cards is a 
good lead. The leader, however, should 
always retain a card (or cards), lower than the 
one led. 

It is occasionally advantageous to lead out 
the only dangerous suit in your hand, if it is 
short (not more than three cards, and pre- 
ferably less). This, however, is generally a 
great mental relief to the declarant. 

If the declarant discards from a suit, either 
adversary should lead that suit. If the 
declarant avoids a suit (and dummy gives 
no reason for his avoidance), that suit should 
preferably be led by the adversary on the right 
of the declarant. 

A singleton deuce or trey is rarely a good 
lead, unless from a ''stone- wall'' hand that 
has no other lead and is crying for discard. A 
deuce or a trey may often throw the declarant 
in, later in the hand. Any card higher than 
a trey however, is not apt to be useful; a jour 
can be ducked in both hands. 



Appendix 379 

High cards are frequently led during the 
progress of a hand, when it is to the adver- 
saries' obvious advantage to hold the lead and 
pull dummy's ''exit'' cards before throwing 
him in. But high cards make ver}^ poor open- 
ing-leads; they often enable the declarant to 
get rid of the only cards that could possibly 
hurt him. Intermediate cards are excellent 
opening-leads; the declarant is unable to 
*' throw" any dangerous high cards on them, 
and he is often forced to choose between tak- 
ing the trick, and unguarding the suit. 

When it is to the advantage of either declar- 
ant or adversary to hold the lead, he should 
lead, and play, high cards. When he merely 
wants to coax the play of a dangerous, ad- 
verse, low card, he should lead, or play, low 
cards. 

In positive suits, you lead up to weakness. 
In nullos, you lead up to strength. 

If an adverse ace does not fall on the first 
two rounds, and if both adversaries follow to 
both those rounds, the chances are largely 
that the ace will fall on the third round. It is 
generally as safe to lead (or play) a king up to 
it, as to lead a deuce. 

Don't think you understand nuUos because 
you have tried them a few times. 



3^0 Complete -Auction Player 

Don't think the failures which vrere the 
results of those 'few trials can be laid at the 
door of nullos. Use :: iiullos, and abuse of 
nullos, are two very i:±'erent things. 

Don't forget the wonderful value of single- 
tons and blank suits; they are as valuable in 
nullos as they are dangerous in no-trumps. 
In the former suit they mean opportunities 
for discards. 

Don't fail to remember the play of every 
card; the difference between a deuce and a 
trey will often turn the day. 

* Ducking'' is valuable, but it can be done 
once too often, as weU as once too seldom. 
The player who tries to do nothing but 
'*duck" from the beginning of the hand is 
usuall}' left to do considerable taking as the 
hand progresses. 

Leam to distinguish between "low" cards, 
and "intermediate" cards; the former are 
your friends, the latter are 3'our foes. 

l^Tiile nullos are not necessarily for expert 
use, alone, they are certainly for experienced 
use, alone. Practice is the best possible nullo- 
teacher ! 

The hands should not be exchanged in 
nullos. The practice of exchanging them, 
and of making the original nullo-bidder the 



Appendix 381 

dummy, was a localism which never received 
any sanction from experts or professionals. 
It is bad because it is unnecessary, and is 
therefore an unwarranted interference with the 
established routine of the game. The object of 
nuUos is to lose tricks, instead of taking them, 
all other things being the same! 



THE END 



Nullo Auction 

By 

Horence Irwin 

Author of " The Fine Points of Auction Bridge," 
** Auction High-LightSy" etc 

Together with the Laws of Auction, as Adopted by the 

Whist Club, November, 1913, and Differences 

between these and the Elnglish Laws 

as Adopted by the Portland Club 

May, 1914 

I6\ $1.25 

The advent of nullos has tremendously enlarged the game 
of Auction. Miss Irwin's previous book, Auction High*' 
Lights, was the first to treat of nullos in Auction ; all that 
she wrote there she emphatically confirms here. But there 
is now much more to say, since, as in all piono«r experi- 
ences, new vistas are constantly opening, and much inter- 
esting nullo information has recently been added. 

It is no longer correct to regard Auction and nullos 
separately ; nullos are now an integral part of the game. 
No one better than Miss Irwin, who blazed the nullo-trail 
and whose sign-posts mark the pitfalls of the nuUo-way, 
can express so clearly and concisely the fine points of the 
present game of NuUo-Auction. 

In addition to invaluable nullo-information, this new 
volimie contains several illuminating chapters on the 
" Play of the Hand in Positive Suits," as well as many 
most interesting problems, each chosen as an apt illus- 
tration to some vital scheme of play. 



New York G. P. Putnam's Sons London 



" Mot only the best writer on Auction but the 
best exponent of any card game I know of." — 

An Old Card Player. 



Auction High-Lights 

With a Full Exposition of 

The Nullo Count 

By Florence Irwin 

Includes the Latest " Laws of Auction," Adopted by 

the New York Whist Club, November, 1913 

Also Laws of Three-Handed and Duplicate 

Sporting Life (the leading English authority on 
games and sports) says: 

*\A capital book' . . • Bridge players will eagerly 
welcome this authoritative treatment of * NuDos,' the latest 
and most absorbing question m the Auction world to-day. 
... * Nullos ' balance things up beautifully, make the 
game more fascinating, give the skillful player crippled 
by poor hands abundant opportunity to profit by his 
knowledge, and make the game less a game of chance. 
. . . Elxperiencad players will agree with her in un- 
sparing condemnation of * High Spade bids.' 

At All Booksellers 
$1 25 net Postage extra 

2 lr^lt^\u G. p. Putnam's Sons .4 i%Tj^ su 



The Fine Points 

of 

Auction Bridge 

Together with an Exposition of 

The New Count 

By Florence Irwin 

16°. Revised Edliion. $125 net By mail, SL35 



CONTENTS 
The Deal — ^The Score — Encouragement and 
Discouragement — ^The Book — ^The Phraseology 
■ — ^The Opening Bid — Subsequent Bids — ^The 
Double — Keeping the Flag Flying — ^The Play- 
Hints — ^A Warning against Over-Biddmg — Rais- 
ing Your Partner's Bid — Losmg Rubbers — ^A 
Condensed List of Bridge Laws — In Any De- 
clared Trump — Brilliancy vs. Solidity — In No- 
Trump — ^The New Count — ^Test Hands 1 to 1 6 
— Compass Auction — ^Team Auction and Touma- 
ment Auction — ^The Laws of Auction Bridge — 
The Revoke — Other Penalties. 

G. P. Putnam's Sons 

New York London 



Auction Bridge 



" Miss Irwin is quite the best combina- 
tion of author and instructor, man or 
woman, we have read on the subject. She 
has that rare gift of catching the high 
lights of her subject and of not allowing 
them to be obscured by anything/^ — 
Wholesalers and Retailers Reviews 

"Not only the best writer on Auction, 
but the best exponent of any card game 
I know oV^—An Old Card Player, 

"Excellent books and in many ways 
the most comprehensive that have yet 
appeared." — Town Topics, 

" Miss Irwin lays down lucidly the prin- 
ciples that distinguish the good from the 
indifferent player." — Providence Journal 

"A valuable addition to the Bridge 
library."— r/ie Literary Digest. 

G. P. Putnam's Sons 

New York London 



